CANCER treatment for hundreds of patients in Redditch and Bromsgrove moved a step closer to home this week.
The county’s first ever radiotherapy centre was officially handed over to Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust on Tuesday (September 16) marking the end of 18 months of building work.
The centre, based within the grounds of the Worcestershire Royal Hospital in Worcester, should be ready to accept its first patients from January and will mean 95 per cent of radiotherapy treatment will be delivered within the county.
Currently 350 patients from the Redditch and Bromsgrove area travel to Coventry, Wolverhampton or Cheltenham for treatment. Basing the service in Worcestershire will save an estimated one million miles of travelling every year.
The new centre has been developed in partnership with University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust and has three linear accelerator machines, which deliver the radiotherapy treatment, with space for a further two in the future if needed.
Harry Turner, WAHT chairman, said: “We now have a magnificent state-of-the-art centre which, when it’s open, will put Worcestershire on the map as one of the country’s top cancer care providers, using the latest technology and treatment to provide the highest quality care and best outcomes for patients, as well as holistic support.”
