A quartet of Everton’s Under-21 players took time out of their busy schedule to say a well-deserved thank you to local nurses on Tuesday.

To mark International Nurses Day, skipper Jonjoe Kenny, Ryan Ledson, Kieran Dowell and Joe Williams paid a visit to The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre in Wirral to show their appreciation for the 200 nurses who work at the specialist cancer hospital by presenting them with bouquets of flowers and boxes of chocolates. 

 

The young players also met with patients on the wards, the chemotherapy day case unit and outpatients department to help bring some cheer to their afternoon. 

 

Everton Under-21s captain Jonjoe Kenny said: “It’s been a real eye opener to come along and meet some of the patients at the cancer centre and see how the nurses work so hard to keep the wards a positive place to be. Everyone made us feel really welcome and it made us realise just how hard nurses work every single day to care for local people and it was nice to recognise that on this special day.” 

 

International Nurses day is celebrated around the world on the anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s birth and to mark the occasion The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre hosted a birthday party for Florence on the chemotherapy day case unit – with staff dressing up for the occasion and a baking competition, while nurses chatted to patients, families and visitors about their role. 

 

Helen Ferns, General Manager for Integrated Care, said: “Every year we celebrate International Nurses Day as we want everyone to know what fantastic nurses we have working at the hospital. As a leading cancer centre, our nurses are delivering exceptional patient care every day, so it’s nice to have a day when their hard work and commitment is recognised across the world. 

 

“It’s fantastic that Everton are supporting the day too and are taking the time to come and visit our staff and patients. Everton has been so supportive of the Trust and it’s always amazing to see how much the staff and patients love to see their players.” 

 

In 2014/15, nurses at Clatterbridge Cancer Centre delivered 43,713 outpatient chemotherapy treatments and 1,000 inpatient chemotherapy episodes of care. In addition to the chemotherapy services available at the Wirral-based site, the nurses also deliver chemotherapy treatments at weekly nurse-led clinics in eight district hospitals across the region – allowing patients to be treated closer to home.