Sarah Bone, CEO, DRWF UK, Val Hussey, DRWF Trustee, and Jane Sutherland-Earl, former DRWF Trustee, with Sir Ian Botham at the opening.
The new Stephanie Marks Diabetes Resource Centre at St Peter’s Hospital in Chertsey, part funded by DRWF, was officially opened by Sir Ian Botham OBE on 20th May 2010.
In recognition of the substantial £81,000 grant made by DRWF in 2008 to the Stephanie Marks Appeal, the training/seminar room at the centre is named after the charity and contains the full range of DRWF patient information leaflets and diabetes awareness necklaces, available to patients free of charge.
The Stephanie Marks Appeal was established to assist in the relief of persons with diabetes and raise awareness about the condition and its associated complications. It was launched in June 2003 following the sad death of 17 year old Stephanie Marks who had received treatment for Type 1 diabetes at St. Peter's.
Summing up what the new centre means to him and his family, Stephanie’s father Chris Marks said, ‘Stephanie was a beautiful, talented, courageous girl whose dream to become a doctor was cut short by complications of diabetes. Our deep sadness is not diminished by the passage of the years but today is about moving forward and improving standards for people with diabetes in our community, linked with GPs and other health colleagues, away from the melee of the main hospital. This resource centre is really going to make a difference. We can all say that this is a job well done.’
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nveiling the plaque to mark this special occasion Sir Ian, Patron of the Stephanie Marks Appeal which raised over £1 million to build the centre, spoke of his admiration for everything that had been achieved, ‘I am really proud to be a small part of this, what a tremendous achievement, and what a great and fitting way to remember Stephanie.’ Sir Ian himself has a daughter with brittle diabetes.
The official opening was hosted by Trust Chairman Aileen McLeish, and attended by around 70 guests, and other contributors to the Appeal, including DRWF.
The new resource centre offers a ‘one stop shop’ for people with diabetes. It comprises a large reception and waiting area, daily Podiatry clinic; consulting rooms, one specifically for eye tests in emergencies; an assessment room for weighing and measuring; a sluice room and offices for the diabetes nurses and dietitians. 
It will aim to improve the quality of diabetes care across a wide area of Surrey and West Middlesex, providing faster and easier access to diabetes treatment, education and research for patients with type 1 diabetes and people with type 2 diabetes who are experiencing complications.
There will be one registrar and consultant clinic per day with forty patients attending at a time on average on a Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. In addition to this, it will offer a consultant led insulin pump clinic, facilitated by Jo McBride DSN, and Elma Phillips, Specialist Diabetes Dietitian.
The centre will also be running its own variation of the BERTIE type 1 diabetes education programme and the X-pert programme for people with type 2 diabetes, for which the centre has just held the first evening session. They will be rolling the X-pert programme out into the wider community across the North West Surrey area.
Tracey Bushell, lead Diabetes Specialist Nurse, said, ‘The biggest bonus of the new centre is that everything, including consultant led clinics, are now all under one roof which provides continuity of the diabetes team as we’re no longer spread out over the hospital. We now also have the facilities and space to provide education programmes for our patients, whereas we always struggled to find room before. The centre is in a central location in the catchment area and is not difficult to get to. It’s going to make such a difference, to be able to expand our services is brilliant’. Tracey will be based at the centre full time along with Diabetes Specialist Nurse, Rosie Marks and Elma Phillips, Specialist Diabetes Dietitian. All will also be working out in the community.