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New cancer hospital
proposals pass crucial milestone
PROPOSALS to develop a major new cancer
hospital in the heart of Liverpool have passed a key milestone with approval of
an outline business case for the scheme.
The Board of The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust, which
provides the region's specialist cancer service, agreed that there was a very
strong case for the Transforming Cancer Care project and it should now proceed
to the final stage of pre-construction planning and design.
Proposals for the new cancer hospital; which would be built next to Royal
Liverpool University Hospital and the University of Liverpool; went to public
consultation last year and received an overwhelmingly positive response. They
were also unanimously approved by the Joint Health Scrutiny Committee for
Cheshire and Merseyside representing Cheshire West and Chester, Halton,
Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton, St Helens, Warrington and Wirral councils.
Board approval of the outline business case means construction will now go ahead
if the project receives planning permission and the full business case is
approved in summer 2016. It is not a private finance initiative and will be
funded by a combination of NHS money including the Trust's own funds
supplemented by a fundraising appeal and internal NHS borrowing.
Andrew Cannell, Chief Executive of The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre, said:-
"The new hospital on West Derby Street in Liverpool is a key element in our
Transforming Cancer Care programme for expanding and improving specialist care
for people in Merseyside, Cheshire, the Isle of Man and surrounding areas.
We passionately believe that this major investment will deliver enormous
benefits to patients for generations to come. Although we already provide
excellent care, this new hospital and associated improvements will truly
establish Merseyside and Cheshire as a leading Centre for groundbreaking cancer
treatment and research."
Due to open in 2018, the Liverpool hospital will become the Trust's main base
and will be in addition to its Wirral site, its radiotherapy Centre at Aintree
and the chemotherapy and outpatient clinics it runs across Merseyside and
Cheshire including in the Linda McCartney Centre and Marina Dalglish Units.
Unlike Wirral, the new hospital will have on-site access to key support
specialties such as intensive care and cardiology which are increasingly
important for the most seriously unwell and complex cancer patients. Cancer
research and clinical trials of new treatments will be significantly enhanced by
bringing The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre together with researchers from the
University of Liverpool, NHS and other key partners.
Radiotherapy will be available on three sites; central Liverpool, Wirral and
Aintree; rather than the current 2. The main cancer hospital will also be
more centrally located than Wirral for people from across Merseyside and
Cheshire.
The Transforming Cancer Care project also includes redeveloping and upgrading
facilities at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre's Wirral site, which will remain a
busy and vibrant Centre providing outpatient care; the vast majority of cancer
patients are outpatients. Services are also being improved across Merseyside and
Cheshire to enable patients to have their treatment as close to home as
possible. The total project cost, including the new hospital in Liverpool,
redevelopment of the Wirral Cancer Centre and equipment, is expected to be
£124m.
Since January 2015, frontline NHS staff from The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre
have been working with a team from Laing O'Rourke and architects BDP to develop
detailed designs and floor plans.
If you did not know the background to the
hospital, the
Transforming Cancer Care is a £124m investment in expanding and improving
services for people in Merseyside, Cheshire and surrounding areas. It includes a
major new specialist cancer hospital next to the University of Liverpool and
Royal Liverpool University Hospital, and redeveloping and upgrading the Wirral
site.
The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre will also retain its existing hospital in
Wirral, its radiotherapy unit on the Aintree site, and its chemotherapy and
outpatient clinics across Merseyside and Cheshire. These include chemotherapy in
the Linda McCartney Centre in Liverpool, the Marina Dalglish Units at Aintree
and Southport hospitals, Liverpool Women's Hospital, the Countess of Chester
Hospital, CanTreat in Halton Hospital, St Helen's Hospital, and Broadgreen
Hospital.
The project is not a private finance initiative. It will be funded by a
combination of NHS money including the Trust's own funds supplemented by a
fundraising appeal and internal NHS borrowing.
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