Support & Charities

I am delighted to be a patron of Brainstrust, a charitable organisation dedicated to improving care for brain tumour sufferers and providing co-ordinated support in their search for treatment. The group was established when Meg Jones was diagnosed with a brain tumour at the age of 19 and subsequently underwent successful surgery for this. They aim to support patients and their families, work with hospitals to secure care pathways for patients, campaign and advocate on behalf of the brain tumour community, fund technology for treatment (e.g. intra-operative MRI) and fund research that translates into clinical practice. Please visit their website and contact them for support and advice if necessary.

Brain Tumour Support was established in 2002 as a fund-raising and support group for patients mainly in the south and west of England. This group was introduced by Tina Mitchell after her husband Paul had sadly died of a brain tumour. I was involved in Paul's care whilst I was working in Bristol and have maintained strong links with the group since that time. They have now introduced a new support group in the Southampton area.

Please visit their website and contact them for support and advice if necessary.

It was a pleasure to attend their annual conference for patients and carers of sufferers of brain tumours in Devon this year. I was given the opportunity to talk to the group on patient experiences with awake craniotomy and participate in a number of one-to-one sessions to answer questions for conference delegates.

The Smile4Wessex Appeal aims to support the work of the Wessex Neurological Centre (WNC) by raising funds for projects that:

• Improve the quality of care and range of treatments offered to patients of the WNC.
• Improve the quality of facilities provided at the WNC (for patients, staff and relatives).
• Further research into neurological conditions that will have a direct bearing on patient care, or further the understanding of such conditions and their future treatment.

We're often asked the question, "Shouldn't equipment and facilities funded by Smile4Wessex in fact be provided by the NHS?" In an ideal world the answer would of course be yes, but in the real world that simply cannot happen as there will always be compromises to make over demands for new technologies, new drugs, and for larger facilities staffed by more doctors and nurses.

Further information about the charity can be found throughout this website.