CANCER patients can now receive their chemotherapy treatment from a special mobile unit after a donation from the charity Hope for Tomorrow.

The eighth unit of its kind, unveiled yesterday at the Great Western Hospital, has been named Linda in memory of Wiltshire councillor Linda Conley, who lost her battle with cancer in October last year.

As part of its rounds, the unit, which costs £260,000 to build and maintain for three years, will visit three yet-to-be-determined sites in Swindon, as well as Marlborough and Calne.

Helen Winter, lead chemotherapy nurse at the GWH, said: “It means we can provide care for our patients closer to their homes.

“We are grateful to Hope for Tomorrow for providing another fantastic facility which will make an enormous difference to our patients, giving people more choice and convenience.

“It’s important for patients to feel comfortable and in these kinds of units they do – there are only four chairs and they don’t have to worry about making long journeys to Swindon.

“The unit itself is excellent. It provides everything the nursing team needs to provide the treatment and it feels more personal.

“The treatment is not suitable for everyone and patients will be told if they can receive the service by their chemotherapy nurses.”

While not in use, the unit will be stored at the GWH and there will be no medicine kept there overnight.

Dan Conley, Linda’s widower, was touched that the unit had been named after his wife.

The 68-year-old, from Bradford on Avon, said: “She was a Wiltshire councillor for many years right up to when she died, and the fact that her name will live on in this way, continuing to help the people of Wiltshire, I think is a very fitting tribute.

“For the last eight or nine years I’ve been raising money for Hope for Tomorrow through the Rotary Club of Bradford On Avon and it’s good to see it producing something like this.”

John Exelby, from Eastleach, used a similar unit when he received his chemotherapy.

The 73-year-old said any reduction in patients having to travel for treatment was a good thing.

“I haven’t had it myself, but there is a lot of anxiety about having to travel long distances to receive the treatment because it is very tiring,” he said.

“These units just take that anxiety away and make it more comfortable and personal.”