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Every day hundreds of dedicated staff support patients at Southend Hospital’s cancer centre. 

This World Cancer Day (Wednesday 4 February) we focus on just two of those helping in the fight against the disease, which will affect one in two of us during our lifetime.

Both were inspired to work in cancer care at the Trust, after two very different experiences of the illness. 

Fiona was diagnosed with breast cancer and Beans lost a parent to cancer when she was a child. Here are their stories:

Working in chemotherapy gave Fiona a chance to give something back

A Healthcare Assistant (HCA) wanted to work in chemotherapy as a thanks for the care she received when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. 

After 22 years in risk management at HSBC, Fiona Wakeling from Rochford was made redundant, prompting a major rethink. A year earlier, in 2015, she had faced breast cancer, undergoing a lumpectomy and radiotherapy. Thankfully, the treatment was successful, but the journey changed her outlook and reignited a long‑held dream.

When she left school, Fiona had a place to train as a nurse at Southend Hospital, but she chose banking when she couldn’t start straight away. Her cancer journey inspired her to return to that early ambition.

She began working bank shifts in 2018 and became a full‑time HCA in 2023, helping with observations, bloods, treatment areas and supporting patients through a range of cancer therapies including oral treatments, intravenous chemotherapy and cold‑cap therapy.

Fiona said: “This team at Southend is amazing. Whether you’re a cleaner, a healthcare assistant or a senior nurse, everyone works together. You get to know the patients. They get to know each other. It really is one big family.

“In chemotherapy, you can see the same people week after week. Some form friendships and new patients lean on those further along; it’s nice to see people support one another without even realising they’re doing it.

“My own brother was treated here last year - he had amazing care too. The staff here deserve so much more recognition for all they do.”

Fiona thinks her own cancer experience has given her a different empathy for patients. She said: “It’s a different kind of understanding that helps me support people in a different way.”

Despite more than two decades in banking, Fiona feels she has found her calling; it’s where she belongs and where she makes a difference.

She said: “Being here is my thank you - my way of giving back. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”

 

Beans means helping cancer patients

A member of hospital staff was aged just 11 when her mum died of cancer.

Chi Wai Tse, known as Beans, has worked at Southend Hospital for more than 20 years. 

She qualified as a Therapeutic Radiographer in 1999 in Hong Kong and is now an Advanced Practitioner in Radiotherapy.

She said: “I lost my mum to cancer when I was 11 years old, and I clearly remember her going through treatment. That really influenced my career choice and I’m very thankful that medical technology has improved so much since then.

“People travel from across mid and south Essex to have their radiotherapy with us and we see around 120 people a day. Some people, depending on the frequency and length of their treatment, might come to us every day for several weeks - even months - so we get to know some of our patients very well indeed. 

“One of the most important aspects of my job is helping our patients to relax. I do this by talking them through their treatment, answering any questions they might have and reassuring them that radiotherapy doesn’t hurt.

“It’s a privilege to do my job and to support people through what can be one of the toughest times of their life. The best thing about my job is when someone has finished their treatment, because they’re a big step closer to getting that ‘all clear’.”

If you’d like to find out more about working in cancer care at the Trust, please visit: www.mse.nhs.uk/current-vacancies.