STAFF and patients have celebrated the official opening of the refurbished Millbrook Suite at Kidderminster Hospital.

This event gave staff on the unit a chance to say “a big thank you” to the League of Friends for the hospital, some of the donors who contributed to the fund-raising and the editor of The Shuttle.

The Millbrook Appeal was run by The Shuttle and the League of Friends, who donated £100,000 towards the total cost of the project.

The rest was generated by hundreds of readers organising fund-raising events including raffles, open days, bring and buy sales, plant and floral events, concerts, open days, sponsored runs, jumps and climbs, bingo evenings and coffee mornings.

More than £210,000 has been raised since the launch of the appeal in February, 2009.

The work means cancer patients can now be treated in more comfortable and modern surroundings.

A spokeswoman for Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS trust said: “A special thanks to staff who also participated in the fund-raising activities.

“Patients receiving treatment on the unit are pleased with the new equipment and environment.”

Features of the new suite - which cares for up to 70 patients a week - include a dedicated breast care room, aromatherapy rooms, patient quiet areas and a dedicated nurse-led bone marrow suite.

Other work on the unit included replacing the carpet, which had been in place since the Millbrook was opened in 1998.

A new vinyl flooring surface has been laid instead, which will be easier and quicker to clean.