Subsea7 have donated £20,000 to specialist, Aberdeen-based Urological cancer charity UCAN to help realise their plans of opening a new diagnosis unit for people with symptoms of urological cancers.
Subsea7’s donation will cover the cost of a flowmeter and bladder scanner, two pieces of equipment integral to the diagnostic procedures that the unit will offer.
UCAN, along with Friends of Anchor, are in the process of raising funds to the tune of £2.5 million to open a Swift Urological Response and Evaluation (SURE) Unit at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary (ARI).
Patients with urological concerns are currently required to undertake several trips, which can be both time-consuming and worrying for them and their loved ones. The project aims to change that by enabling patients to undergo all their scans and tests in a single hospital visit, leading to faster diagnosis times that could potentially save 100 lives per year.
Hani El Kurd, Gayle Stephen, Jonathan Tame
Aberdeen-based Subsea7 senior vice presidents, Hani El Kurd and Jonathan Tame, welcomed Gayle Stephen, UCAN office manager to Subsea7’s East Campus for the official presentation of the donation.
Hani El Kurd said: “Statistics indicate that Cancer will sadly touch most of us at some point in our lives but having a facility like this that enables early detection in the north-east of Scotland is a huge benefit and will provide peace of mind to people in the local and surrounding communities who are battling this terrible disease.
“I am proud to show our support for UCAN and Friends of Anchor. Aberdeen and the North of Scotland has long been an important base for Subsea7, and we are always delighted to be able to support charities and organisations wherever we operate.”
Subsea7 plan to continue working with UCAN to educate their Aberdeen workforce about urological cancer with an upcoming information session at Subsea7’s East Campus facilitated by the charity and nursing staff from ARI.
On the importance of being educated about the symptoms of urological cancers, Gayle Stephen said: “Being educated on the signs and symptoms of the five urological cancers is really important as we all know early detection provides the best outcome.
“The SURE Unit will double the number of patients seen by urology which means many more patients will be diagnosed in the early stages of cancer.
“The donation of £20,000 from Subsea7 is a huge boost to our fundraising and takes us a step closer to turning an idea we had two years ago into a reality and helping thousands of patients in the North-east of Scotland.”