The Prince of Wales Hospital

Angela Wales grew up the oldest of five children in Walcha NSW. Through her life she has worked around the world as a librarian (Cambridge, UK), field archaeological assistant (Greece) and travel consultant (London and the executive director of the Australian Writers Guild. She ultimately became Executive Director of the Writers Guild Foundation. The WGA West is one of the more powerful Hollywood unions, also representing writers working in film, television and other AV fields.

She retired from the Foundation and returned to Australia in late 2013 to help take care of her elderly mother. It was at this time she was diagnosed with breast cancer. While having her at chemotherapy at Prince of Wales Hospital - she decided that faced with the question of her mortality that she needed to document her own life if she didn't do it now she never would. Her book detailing her early life – Barefoot in the Bindis was published in 2018 becoming a best seller. She is a strong supporter of the care and service she received at Prince of Wales Hospital and the dedication of the staff who looked after her.  

“I am very excited to see the new Survivorship Centre for people like me and as a girl who grew up in the country I know the value of the virtual care supported by Dry July” 

Prince of Wales Hospital Cancer Survivorship Centre, housed in the beautifully restored Medical Superintendent’s Cottage was generously supported with funding from Dry July to the Prince of Wales Hospital Foundation to provide fit out for waiting room areas and essential virtual care audio visual equipment.

The purpose of the Prince of Wales Hospital Cancer Survivorship Centre will be to optimise the health and wellbeing of people living with and beyond cancer by engaging all who are impacted by cancer as empowered partners, and integrating evidence-informed and evidence-generating care to deliver a patient-centred, coordinated, cost-effective, sustainable and innovative cancer survivorship program. The program will focus on prevention, surveillance for recurrence, monitoring and intervention for the physical and psychosocial effects of cancer and cancer treatment.

The centre was developed with funding from the State and Federal governments and the Prince of Wales Hospital Foundation with Dry July funding, and the Sony Foundation and Nelune Foundation.

Professor Boon Chua, Director, Cancer and Haematology Services, Prince of Wales Hospital, said the centre will provide a patient-centred, innovative survivorship program – all the more essential now, due to the social and economic impact of the growing number of Australians being affected by cancer.

“Cancer survivors are at increased risk for serious long-term morbidity – physical, psychosocial and economic – for quite some time after diagnosis and treatment,” Professor Chua said.

“Our program will invest in the post-treatment care of those patients – and in training the next generation of clinicians and researchers to support an expanding population of cancer survivors" 

We're pleased to announce that Prince of Wales Hospital has received an additional grant from the Dry July Foundation October grant round.

This grant will enable the purchase of 4 recliner chairs and a painted mural to improve the surrounds to make the environment more aesthetic, safe, warm and comforting for the oncology patients accessing Nuclear Medicine at Prince of Wales Hospital.

Thanks to funds raised through Dry July 2019, the Dry July Foundation is able to fund a new Cancer Survivorship Garden, which will create a beautiful, calming environment for the newly developed Cancer Survivorship Centre.

The purpose of the Prince of Wales Hospital Cancer Survivorship Centre is to optimise the health and wellbeing of people living with and beyond cancer by engaging everyone who is impacted by cancer, as empowered partners. The Survivorship Garden will help achieve that by providing a space for wellness outside of the centre which will include detailed landscaping and wellness pieces.

Research has shown evidence that green nature, sunlight and fresh air are essential components of healing especially in settings of large municipal hospitals. Many patients have stated feeling different and more positive after spending time in one of the POWH gardens, including the Oncology Garden supported by Dry July back in 2015.

The Survivorship Garden is meant to have similar positive effects and help provide an area for cancer survivors to:

- Experience wellness

- Reduce stress

- Help a patient come to terms with their diagnosis

- Provide relaxation

- Help with rehabilitation

- Offer a natural therapeutic environment

- Providing survivors and their families with a space away from the hospital

Cancer is a major cause of illness and premature death in the South Eastern Sydney Local Health District. Every year around 5,000 people are diagnosed with cancer. More than one in three local community members will develop cancer during their lifetime.

The Prince of Wales Hospital Cancer Survivorship Centre will be located in the Medical Superintendent’s Cottage, adjacent to the Nelune Comprehensive Cancer Centre.

Constructed in 1867, the Superintendent’s Cottage is of historical significance as part of the former Destitute Children’s Asylum. The site demonstrates an uninterrupted progression of history from the operation of the orphanage in the mid-19th century, then as a military hospital and repatriation hospital during the early 20th century and later as part of the Prince of Wales Hospital.

Patients come not only from Sydney metropolitan area, but the Centre also services cancer patients from all over the state. Our cancer survivors are at increased risk for serious long-term morbidity related to the adverse physical, psycho-social and economic burden of cancer and cancer treatment, for a significant period of time beyond diagnosis and treatment.

The purpose of the Prince of Wales Hospital Cancer Survivorship Centre is to optimise the health and wellbeing of people living with and beyond cancer.

The Centre will engage all who are impacted by cancer as empowered partners and integrating evidence-informed and evidence-generating care to deliver a patient-centred, cost-effective, sustainable and innovative cancer survivorship program.

The program will focus on prevention, surveillance for recurrence, monitoring and intervention for the physical and psycho-social effects of cancer and cancer treatment. With Dry July’s help, we were able to purchase vital equipment for the Centre and are excited to launch the facility in April 2019.

It will be open to patients in the coming months when we will further update our supporters on its progress.