Media Release
Date: 23 June 2020
Cooling caps for RUH chemotherapy patients
Cancer patients receiving chemotherapy treatment at the Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust (RUH) are benefiting from a generous donation of new-design scalp cooling caps that can help to reduce hair loss, thanks to the family of a former patient.
Cooling caps work by lowering the scalp temperature during and after chemotherapy. Liquid coolant passes through the cap, extracting heat from the patient's scalp and ensuring the scalp remains at an even cool temperature to minimise hair loss.
Rosalyn (Roz) Hancock, from Bath, sadly passed away from bowel cancer in November last year after two years of treatment at the RUH Chemotherapy Department, aged 64.
Her husband Nick said: "My donation is my way of saying thank you to the wonderful staff at the RUH on behalf of my dear wife. Roz was hugely appreciative of the tender care she received from all of the chemotherapy staff at the RUH over the course of her illness, and also of the wonderful staff themselves, who became her friends on the way.
"Scalp cooling to reduce hair loss during chemotherapy is an important resource which can help to retain a patient's identity and dignity at a difficult time. Cancer robs you of so much, so to be able to offer a chance at preventing the indignity of losing your hair is so important.
"Roz spent a lifetime caring for both children and adults in various settings in Bath, and she would have loved this opportunity to help others undergoing chemotherapy."