Great Western Hospitals have got the green light from NHS England to build a new radiotherapy unit on the Swindon site.
This unit will have two linear accelerators enabling cancer patients from Swindon and Wiltshire to have their radiotherapy treatment locally rather than having to make the 70-mile round trip to Oxford’s Churchill Hospital.
The unit will be managed by Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. The new service is expected to come into operation during 2018.
GWH’s fundraising arm, Brighter Futures, are running a £2.9million appeal under the slogan Bringing Cancer Care Closer to fund the new unit and have so far raised £350,000.
On Tuesday (February 9) GWH staff will be giving the proceeds from their annual Pancake Day races to the radiotherapy fund.
You can find out how to donate here.
Cancer is the leading cause of mortality in England, and the incidence of new cancer cases is predicted to rise by 16% over the next 10 years. Radiotherapy is a successful treatment for cancer and increasingly important in the management of many cancers.
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