Shropshire patients to benefit from Doris's £37,000 gift of thanks

When Doris Cooper died last year, she had made it clear with two bequests that the hospitals which had treated her and her adored husband should benefit.

Earlier this year the League of Friends at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital received a legacy of £37,570 in appreciation of the care she received from Consultant Mr Sunil Bhatia and the trust's oral and maxillofacial surgery teams and the head and neck cancer services.

Thanks to the donation, the maxillofacial prosthetists at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust have started to use ground-breaking software and equipment to plan surgery and reconstruction for cancer and trauma patients

Sam Bunn, Mandy Frost (friend of Doris), Christine Richardson (friend of Doris), Richard Lawn (LOF), Mr Sunhil Bhatia (Consultant who worked with Doris), Hilary Beswick and Trisia Wells (friend of Doris).

Virtual 3D models are created via data from a CT scan, surgery is planned recreating surgical cuts and bone grafts, titanium plates are designed and implants positioned to assist the maxillofacial surgeons in theatre. The models are then printed out in resin to produce a true replica of the patient and for use as a diagnostic aid.

Previously, the maxillofacial team sourced an external company to provide this service which impacted on surgery time.

Solution

Samantha Bunn, manager at the dental lab to The maxillofacial and orthodontic laboratory said: "With the introduction of this service the consultants and prosthetists have recently worked together using the technology to plan surgery for a patient with cancer of the upper jaw, a patient with a large cyst close to the eye and a patient who has suffered serious facial injuries in a cycling accident.

"The team worked together to determine the best solution for each patient, based on their medical requirements."

Mr Bhatia added: “When I received a copy of the solicitor's letter from the League of Friends saying that she had mentioned me and gifted a legacy of almost £40,000 to be used to improve the life of other cancer patients I couldn’t believe it.

"After some consideration and with help from the League of Friends this piece of equipment will help us to plan virtual surgery and take us into the 21st century. While we have been trying to deliver the latest and best treatment it has been difficult as we had to send the scans out and the models were made elsewhere.

"With this being in-house we are now able to perform virtual surgery to remove cancer from a very difficult area of the body, but also we are now able to very accurately predict the defect and also fabricate a framework from patient bone or a titanium."

Doris Cooper, known as Dos to her many friends, died in February 2018, a day after her 92nd birthday. In 2014 she underwent major neck surgery from which she made a speedy and full recovery. She never forgot what she described as ‘her wonderful treatment at both of our two hospitals’.