CHARITY

Marianna’s generous £90K donation makes a huge difference to cancer care

Marianna Carpenter is a very special lady and thank you really doesn’t do justice to the incredible generosity she has shown for Northampton General Hospital. Marianna has donated £90,000 to the hospital via Northamptonshire Health Charity, enabling the Obs & Gynae department to purchase state-ofthe-art equipment that revolutionises the way surgeons can operate.

Northampton General is one of only two NHS hospitals in the Midlands region to possess the Pinpoint Fluorescence Imaging Laparoscopic and Open Surgery Camera, putting them two to three years ahead of all others in terms of the enhanced level of care that can be offered to patients with endometrial and cervical cancer.

Consultant Gynaecologist, Mr Alexander-Sefre said, “Pinpoint allows patients to avoid major surgery, have quicker recovery and less side effects. This is excellent news for our patients. All thanks to Marianna’s generosity.”

Mr Alexander-Sefre and his team organised a special meeting for Marianna and her partner, Ken Thurston so they could thank her in person and demonstrate the huge impact on patient care the equipment provides. It was fascinating to learn more about the many ways it offers significant enhancements utilising fluorescent imaging thanks to a demonstration delivered by Andy Bayliss, Territory Manager at Stryker UK.

The equipment is designed to provide surgeons with real-time visualisation of tissue perfusion and lymphatic vessels and nodes during a variety of surgical procedures. It’s laparoscopic and open field camera will be used within gynaecological cancer surgeries for the identification of lymph nodes and channels with a new technique for identifying and removing the sentinel lymph node.

The new technique allows for more enhanced and targeted surgery reducing potential adjunctive therapy and the complications associated with former ways of operating. Additionally, it has been proven to significantly reduce operating and recovery times meaning should radiotherapy be required following surgery, this can begin sooner providing even better patient outcomes.

The advantages of the open field camera, SPYPHI, is that it can be used in many other surgeries outside of gynaecology, such as colorectal, general surgery, and for reconstructive surgery within breast surgery, head & neck and even for aiding with amputations as well. This means that even more departments and patients can benefit as a result.

Robert Powell, Charity Fundraiser said, “We appreciate that the high costs of innovative equipment fall outside the NHS budget. We are eternally grateful to Marianna for making her donation to us that means we were able to fund the equipment for the department to enhance care for patients so significantly.”

Other NHS charities are working hard to raise money to fund this equipment for their hospitals and the fact Northampton has been able to purchase it so quickly is all thanks to Marianna’s philanthropy because she wanted to give something back to the local hospital following the care she herself received from the department.

In fact, Marianna previously donated £4,000 to the charity in 2019 which enabled Obs & Gynae to purchase a laparoscopic training simulator, which has been helping to train junior doctors for operations, including such procedures like stitching up internal wounds.

It is only thanks to Marianna’s generous donation for this game-changing equipment that these particular enhancements to patient care are being made at Northampton General for people across Northamptonshire. She has made a real difference. This is why Marianna is a very special lady and to who, our whole county will be grateful for many years to come.

Marianna’s £90K donation has funded game-changing equipment for local hospital

> Make a donation to support any ward or department at the local NHS hospitals the charity supports. Visit the website for more information northamptonshirehealthcharity.co.uk