Published on: 20 April 2021

A new transport service has been launched to provide people from Chesterfield with free, safe travel to Sheffield hospitals for cancer treatment.

The service has been launched by Weston Park Cancer Charity and will operate twice daily from Monday to Friday, between The University of Derby’s St Helena Campus in Chesterfield and Sheffield Teaching Hospitals.

The Weston Park Cancer Charity Transport Service could save hundreds of pounds in travel costs each week for people in Chesterfield and the surrounding areas who are living with cancer.

Around 20% of patients at Weston Park Cancer Centre – one of the four hospitals to which the transport service will provide free travel – are from Chesterfield, the equivalent of more than 3,000 patients at any one time and more than 1,300 each year.

The service will follow strict safety measures to keep volunteer drivers and passengers safe at all times. Drivers will all be tested for Covid-19 twice weekly, with buses cleaned thoroughly before every journey.

The launch of the new Transport Service follows Weston Park Cancer Charity’s takeover of Chesterfield cancer charity, Nenna Kind, in 2020. It marks a ’major step forward’ for Weston Park Cancer Charity in its ‘commitment to care in every sense’ for cancer patients and their families in Chesterfield.

Emma Clarke, director of services and grant-giving at Weston Park Cancer Charity said: “Our Transport Service will ensure that people facing cancer will not also have to worry about accessing treatment at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals – and will be able to focus on what’s important.

“A cancer diagnosis is a difficult thing for anyone to hear. But imagine that the recommended treatment is miles away from your home and you have no ability to make that journey. We don’t want anyone to ever have to face the decision to decline treatment because travel to and from their appointments is the barrier. 

“It marks a major step forward for us as we look to build on Nenna Kind’s legacy, and to continue our commitment to care in every sense for cancer patients and their families in Chesterfield and the surrounding areas.”

For more information or for bookings, call Weston Park Cancer Charity’s helpline 0114 553 3330 (option two) or email transport@wpcancercharity.org.uk  

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