Staff, patients and volunteers at the Dalziel Centre celebrated after the day hospice was awarded a prestigious national award.
The centre was awarded the Macmillan Quality Environment Mark.
This award, which is the first of its kind in the UK, recognises and rewards good practice and high standards within the physical environment of a cancer care building.
And the Dalziel Unit is among only 13 sites in Scotland to be given the award, which has been developed in collaboration with people living with cancer and organisations including the Department of Health.
Carol Murphy, Macmillan nurse/team leader at the Dalziel Unit, said: “This award means a great deal to us all at Dalziel Unit.
“It shows that the environment the patients come into and that the staff work in is very important to all and is complemented by the atmosphere in the unit, the décor and the ambience and friendliness.
“This makes me very proud of what has been achieved and how much work and effort goes in to keeping the Dalziel Unit a safe and comfortable environment for not just patient and carers but also for staff.
“I’d like to thank everyone who has supported the Dalziel Unit over the years and say a big thank you to all our staff.”
The Dalziel Unit offers a range of services including counselling, complementary therapies, acupuncture, hypnotherapy, pain and symptom clinics, MS support group and a lymphoedema service.
They also offer a drop in service five days a week for anyone looking for advice and information and all these services are available to cancer patients and their carers, throughout Lanarkshire.
Nicola Cook, national project manager at Macmillan Cancer Support, said: “To receive the award environments have to score highly in areas such as use of space, comfort and atmosphere, personal and social interaction and health and wellbeing.
“Consideration is given to such things as the greeting people receive when they come to a centre, the use of natural light and outdoor space, and the availability of quiet, private rooms – all areas that were highlighted as really important by people living with cancer who helped develop the award.”
The Macmillan Quality Environment Mark will help to ensure that people affected by cancer are treated and supported in physical environments of uniformly high quality.
The scheme is open to any healthcare providers from the public, voluntary or private sectors who operate cancer care buildings.
Organisations can apply to be assessed for the Macmillan Quality Environment Mark via www.macmillan.org.uk/cancerenvironments.