First patients arrive at £5 million Shropshire cancer centre
The first patients to receive treatment at the state-of-the-art Lingen Davies Cancer Centre arrived today.
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 welcoming 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.”
Work on phase two is underway, 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.”
