UCAN centre

On 21st January 2008 Nicola Sturgeon, the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing, officially launched the opening of our Cancer Care Centre in Ward 209 at the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.

This iconic Centre provides:

friendly, welcoming environment for patients and relatives
opportunities for browsing educational and comprehensive material
access to accredited websites via state of the art computers
plasma screens to entertain and show informative DVDs commissioned by UCAN
a chance to simply relax over a cup of coffee and share with others in a similar position
private area for discussion with medical staff and specialist nurses.

This Centre is the first of its kind in Scotland and is being made possible through extremely generous donations: primary donor George Stevenson of GSS Developments and the Construction Industry in the North of Scotland, in partnership with NHS Grampian, the UCAN charity, other local business leaders, and UCAN's kind supporters. A HUGE thank you to all who made this possible!

UCAN has recently completed an audit of the support that we offer to those who have been diagnosed with a urological cancer in the north-east of Scotland. This support includes our UCAN Cancer Care Centre and our peer to peer support 'buddy' network.

The audit was extremely positive with the majority of those questioned feeling that they had benefited from using the UCAN Cancer Care Centre and receiving their diagnosis in a non-clinical environment. The audit demonstrated that there is a clear need for these services and that the UCAN Cancer Care Centre is a much valued facility and an important support.

The audit was undertaken with the support of the Clinical Effectiveness Team, NHS Grampian and can be downloaded here:-Patient Satisfaction Survey 2011

This Care Centre is incredible news for UCAN patients and families; significantly empowering anyone affected by Urological Cancer. However, we stress that this is only the beginning! And with around 18,000 people dying every year in the UK from urological cancers, and with this figure continuing to rise, UCAN appreciates that much more needs to be done!

Consultant Urological Surgeon and UCAN Chairman, Sam McClinton, is delighted with the Centre:

"We are confident this is going to make a real difference to local patients - so much so that the model for the centre is going to be utilised as the blueprint for similar kinds of facilities throughout the country".

Professor C Duncan Rice of the University of Aberdeen strongly believes that UCAN is

"fast making Aberdeen an internationally important centre in the field of Urological Cancer."

You'll find the UCAN Care Centre at Ward 209, Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, Foresterhill, Aberdeen AB25 2ZN

Opening hours: Monday – Friday 9am til 4.30pm

Tel: 01224 550333 (Voicemail – Please leave a message and someone will call you back) | UCAN Centre Email

My UCAN story-Neil Murray

Neil Murray believes his own family history was one of the reasons he was diagnosed early with urological cancer…here’s Neil’s story… Neil Murray tells his UCAN Story from Roy Stewart on Vimeo. My family history is bad (for cancer)…so I was aware I was high risk.

The UCAN Nursing Team

Pictured L-R: Linda Pennet, Rachael Watson, Debbie Munro, Morven Paterson and Katy Gunn To contact the nursing team please email: nhsg.ucannurses@nhs.net

George Stevenson – an acknowledgement

Central to the construction of the UCAN centre was former board member and local businessman George Stevenson, who had previously made a full recovery from urological cancer. Being heavily involved in the building trade George persuaded many of his industry colleagues to donate both labour and materials to minimise the cost of the initial conversion […]

Counselling and patient support

More information coming soon. In the meantime please see our UCAN centre or Buddy Network pages.

UCAN Care Centre gains prestigious quality mark from UK charity Macmillan.

The UCAN Care Centre at the ARI, which offers support to urological cancer patients and their families, has gained a prestigious quality mark from UK charity Macmillan. The drop-in centre at Ward 209 in the pink zone at the hospital, which was formerly known as Ward 44, has received the Macmillan Quality Environment Mark (MQEM) […]

UCAN Specialist Nurse-Debbie Munro

Urological cancer charity UCAN is based in Aberdeen but leads the world in its pioneering format helping patients, and their families, throughout their journey of care. Now in its tenth year, one of the essential breakthrough differences UCAN has established for everyone who passes through the doors are the welcoming surroundings they walk in to…UCAN […]

UCAN Specialist Nurse-Linda Pennet

My UCAN story-Graham Smith

Graham Smith was in his mid-forties when he was diagnosed with urological cancer. He contacted his GP as soon as thought something may be amiss…this is Graham’s story… Graham Smith tells his UCAN Story from Roy Stewart on Vimeo. The people at UCAN helped put my mind at ease.