Call for an instant quote 0345 90 80 161
Open Mon to Fri 09:00 - 17:30 | Sat 09:00 - 16:00 (GMT)
12 November 2015 09:19
Sir Alex Ferguson lifts the Barclays Premier League trophy in 2013
During his 27 years as manager of Manchester United football legend Sir Alex Ferguson won more honours than virtually any other boss in the sport's history.
But the man who led his team to 13 Premier League titles says he still found it a huge honour to officially open a pioneering new health unit in the city where he worked for so many years.
And, having lost both his parents to lung cancer, opening the bronchoscopy unit at the Wythenshawe Hospital-based North West Lung Centre was particularly poignant for Fergie.
The 73-year-old said he was well aware of what a devastating disease lung cancer can be, adding that he was just sad his parents - Alexander and Elizabeth -- hadn't had the benefit of what is available to patients today.
Sir Alex said the unit would offer a world-class service and help improve treatment for lung patients across a region which has a "particular struggle" with such conditions.
Bronchoscopy is a procedure performed by specialists to help diagnose and treat a variety of lung and airway-related conditions.
Each year in the UK around 44,500 people are diagnosed with lung cancer. Patients who go on holiday can cover themselves with a cancer travel insurance policy. Officials say the state-of-the-art unit will enable the number of patients that can be treated at the centre to be trebled.
Housed in the hospital's £1 million Lucis Building, it is thought the centre is the first and biggest of its kind in the UK.
The centre's clinical director for respiratory medicine, Professor Ashley Woodcock, says the new unit will significantly improve treatment options for the region's lung patients.
Opening the unit, he adds, forms part of the University Hospital of South Manchester NHS Foundation Trust's drive to transform the outcomes for patients with lung cancer and other bronchial conditions.
Sir Alex, who won 49 trophies during his career as a manager, lost his father Alexander, 66, to lung cancer in 1979 and his mother Elizabeth, 64, to the same disease seven years later.
18 December 2018
The number of diabetes-related lower limb amputations has jumped by nearly a fifth in England over recent years, a leading charity has warned.
[more...]
15 December 2018
Older people are 50% more likely to take themselves to A&E if they live alone, a new study has revealed.
14 December 2018
Over 4.3 million older people in the UK are at risk of not getting the care they need just because of their postcode, new research has revealed.
13 December 2018
Space tourism could move one giant leap closer this week as Virgin Galactic expects to reach "space altitudes" for the first time.
12 December 2018
If you're worried about piling on the pounds this Christmas, regular home weighing could prevent you from excessive festive eating and drinking.
11 December 2018
Airlines that automatically cancel return flights when passengers fail to show for their outbound journeys are being warned they risk breaking consumer law.
08 December 2018
Providing better conditions for disabled passengers is one of the main aims of a proposed new charter for airlines and airports.
07 December 2018
Women who don't attend cervical screenings should be offered testing kits they can use at home, new research suggests.
06 December 2018
Ryanair could be slapped with enforcement action from the airline regulator after it refused compensation for passengers hit by flight disruption caused by staff taking strike action.
05 December 2018
Protein supplements and muscle training could be the most effective ways to delay or reverse the effects of frailty, a new study suggests.
04 December 2018
Mumford and Sons bassist Ted Dwane has helped create a new exhibition to raise awareness of the loneliness felt by people living with multiple sclerosis (MS).
01 December 2018
A leading charity has praised the actions of Lloyd Russell-Moyle, saying the Labour MP had "done everybody a service" by disclosing his HIV status.