Clatterbridge Cancer Centre – Liverpool, part of a wider £162m investment into NHS cancer services, will open its doors in Liverpool’s Knowledge Quarter this summer. Tony McDonough reports
A multi-million pound centre offering world class cancer treatment will open in Liverpool’s Knowledge Quarter in June.
As part of a £162m in NHS cancer services in Merseyside and Cheshire, the Clatterbridge Cancer Centre – Liverpool (CCC-L) will open its doors to patients on June 27, providing protected facilities for people with cancer who may be at risk from coronavirus in other facilities.
Work on the 11-storey building began in late 2016 and formal construction got underway in 2017.The new cancer hospital offers 110 fully-single en-suite patient bedrooms which will reduce the risk of catching coronavirus and other infections.
This is important because people with cancer can be at greater risk of becoming extremely unwell from the virus. There are also special isolation facilities for patients whose immune systems mean they are particularly vulnerable to infection.
CCC-L will deliver a wide range of highly-specialist cancer care including pioneering chemotherapy, immunotherapy, gene therapy and radiotherapy. The hospital has facilities for bone marrow transplant, diagnostics and imaging, outpatients, daycase treatments, a teenage and young adult unit and clinical therapies.
Being on site with Royal Liverpool University Hospital and the University of Liverpool medical school will have huge benefits. It will enhance care for the most complex patients – for example, those who have heart, lung and kidney conditions as well as cancer. Patients will also have access to leading-edge clinical trials of new cancer treatments.
The new hospital will become the main hub in The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust’s extensive network of treatment centres, including its Wirral and Aintree sites, hospitals across Cheshire and Merseyside and community settings including patients’ homes and workplaces.
Dr Liz Bishop, chief executive of The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Clatterbridge Cancer Centre – Liverpool is the culmination of an eight-year vision for transforming cancer care in a region with one of the highest rates of cancer in the country.
“We are tremendously excited about opening Clatterbridge Cancer Centre – Liverpool. It has been a huge labour of love and I would like to pay tribute to our staff, the Laing O’Rourke site team, our suppliers, subcontractors and all the partners who have helped to bring it to fruition.”
Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson added: “The opening of the new Clatterbridge Cancer Centre is fantastic news for Liverpool and the region, and for everyone who will receive world class treatment there.”