New Lingen Davies Centre opens to widespread acclaim
Staff and patients at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital had reason to celebrate yesterday as the eagerly-anticipated Lingen Davies Centre enjoyed a smooth opening.
The £5 million building for cancer patients is based on two floors and includes a new reception area, an outpatient unit for haematology, head and neck, and oncology patients as well as the day unit for chemotherapy.
Sarah Faulkner, the Trust’s Centre Manager for the Oncology Centre, said: “There are still a few finishing touches to come, like the televisions in the reception area, but other than that we are just about done.
“People – patients and staff – are really relieved to get into the new centre. There’s no comparison to what we had in Clinic 9 (where the old Haematology Day Unit was based) to what we have now.
“We have all strived to provide excellent care for our patients and now we’ve got the facilities to back it up. All the feedback we have received from patients who have used it today has been very positive.”
Charity group Lingen Davies, which raised the majority of the money to pay for the building of the new Centre, is also delighted with the outcome. The charity also fronted a campaign to raise more than £350,000 for vital equipment for the new centre and to provide en-suite facilities for head and neck cancer patients at PRH.
A further crucial injection of cash came from the Shropshire Blood Trust Fund, which provided more than £1 million, while Head and Neck charities raised £250,000 and the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital’s League of Friends came up with £300,000.
Louise Cliffe, Acting Fundraising Manager for Lingen Davies, said: "I would like to thank the people of Shropshire and Mid Wales, on behalf of the Charity, for all their support and hard work in raising over £3.5m to build and furnish this fantastic new Centre.
“The continued generosity of the local community, over the last eight years, has enabled this Centre to be built, and it will make a huge difference to cancer patients receiving treatment throughout the region."
