£5 million Shropshire cancer centre set to open

Contractors have completed Phase One of the project and Trust staff will now spend the Easter weekend getting the state-of-the-art building ready for the first patients to arrive for treatment on Tuesday.

The £5 million centre has been funded by charities "Lingen Davies taking the lead with an appeal that raised £3.2 million. They are now also fronting a campaign to raise a further £386,000 for vital equipment for the new centre.

A further a crucial injection of cash came from the Shropshire Blood Trust Fund, which provided more than £1 million, while Head and Neck charities raised £550,000 and the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital's League of Friends came up with £300,000.

Julia Clarke, Chair of the Centre Development Project Board, said: "We are really excited that, after months of hard work, the centre is almost ready to welcome its first patients through the doors.

"It has been a terrific team effort to get us this far and we must thank everyone who has worked on this project to deliver us, on time, a building that we can all be very proud of.

"There will now be a big push over the Easter weekend so that we are ready to welcome the first patients to see the new facilities on Tuesday morning."

Work on phase two also begins immediately, which will see work on the new reception entrance and refurbishment of the existing outpatient area. That should be completed in August

Sarah Faulkner, the Oncology Centre Manager, said: "All the staff are looking forward to getting settled in the new building and we know it is going to make such a big difference to our patients.

"We now have surroundings which will allow them to receive their treatment in a private and comfortable environment.

"Having our cancer services concentrated within one building is going to reduce the need for patients to be transferred to different areas of the hospital."