Rita’s surprise visit from PM

Rita Orriss with Prime Minister Gordon Brown at the Christie Hospital

Oldham Chronicle, supporting the Oldham Christie Appeal

OLDHAM nurse Rita Orriss got the shock of her life when Prime Minister Gordon Brown walked in after her radiotherapy session.

The 59-year-old had been warned an “important person” was due to visit the Christie Hospital, where she was having daily treatment for breast cancer, and asked if she would be prepared to talk to him.

“We were in the radiotherapy room, and I had heard the Health Secretary Andy Burnham was visiting so I expected it to be him,” said Rita. “But when the door opened and Gordon Brown walked in it was a total surprise.

“He was very friendly and seemed to be genuinely interested in everything that was happening and also in me.

“He asked how I felt and did the treatment make me tired, and wanted to know how the travelling was, which is a big part of the reason the Christie decided to build a radiotherapy centre in Oldham. He was very open and such a nice man.”

Rita explained: “I told him I find the travelling stressful even though I am relatively well, and that it must be worse for the people with cancer who are quite ill.

“I explained I set off a good hour-and-a-half before my appointment time because you never know if there will be a hold up on the motorway, so it can be a three-hour round journey.

“And I also told him how much a boon the new centre in Oldham will be for the people living on this side of Manchester.”

Rita, an orthopaedic nurse, has worked at the Royal Oldham Hospital for 20 years. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in November last year, and had a mastectomy followed by chemotherapy. Her latest bout of treatment involved 14 days of radiotherapy, which meant she had to travel to the Christie every weekday for almost three weeks.

Rita, who lives in Trent Road, Shaw, said: “The stress of the travelling is the most worrying thing about it. You wake up in the morning and know you have to go on the motorway and you can never foretell if there will be a hold-up.

“I was lucky, I only had to drive myself once. I have some very good friends who have driven me there, and Lesley Buckley who works with me on the ward, has been an absolute gem.

“Had I been diagnosed 12 months later, when Oldham’s radiotherapy centre will be open, everything would have been much simpler.”

The Prime Minister said after meeting Rita: “It’s been a pleasure to speak to doctors and nurses and thank the hospital for everything it is doing, as well as meet patients who are going through very difficult circumstances.”


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