A newspaper cartoonist has been chosen to explain complex cancer treatment guidelines because of the clarity of his work.

Mark O’Callaghan, whose work appears in Mid Somerset Newspapers, is helping Weston General Hospital communicate with its patients and staff.

Mark with the finished poster

The hospital has a relatively small number of patients using a particular cancer service each month, which means that each treatment has a big impact on the all-important standards figures.

So it is vital that everyone understands the procedures.

Cancer services manager Sally Allen said: “We had seen Mark’s work in the Cheddar Valley Gazette and asked if he could help us by drawing this in a simple and striking way – and he has done that magnificently.

“We are proud to say that we have achieved the 14-day target without exception for the past four years and in recent months have also achieved both the 31, and 62-day targets successfully, but we cannot afford for even one patient to slip through.”

The original drawing has now been made into posters which are going on display throughout the hospital and there is a possibility that neighbouring hospitals will use it in future too.

Cartoonist Mark said: “I had never had the chance to tackle this kind of illustration before and I’m very glad it worked out well.”