Key Summary
- A £17m radiotherapy centre has opened in Milton Keynes, saving patients long trips to Oxford
- The centre includes a Linac, CT scanner, consultation rooms, and future expansion space
- Over 200 patients have already received care since treatment began in January
Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (OUH) along with Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Trust (MKUH) Cancer Centre together has launched a £17 million radiotherapy centre in Milton Keynes on Monday (30).
The centre built by Morgan Sindall, ensures quick healthcare access to local cancer patients avoiding the usual 70-mile trip to Oxford.
Even though the new centre OUH Radiotherapy @ Milton Keynes, cannot accommodate all the local patients for now, it can save nearly 6,500 trips to Oxford annually.
It contains the necessary facilities like linear accelerator (Linac), CT scanner, main reception, consultation rooms and enough room for future developments.
MKUH guarantees internal access to and from it to the new centre with area for another Linac.
Treatment at the centre commenced in January with the ribbon cutting ceremony by two among the more than two hundred patients that have been seen at the centre.
Donna Hughes, operational manager of the centre considers it as a “longstanding vision” which enables people to have radiotherapy treatment near their homes.
Prostate cancer patient Martin Flynn said, "The new centre is amazing, and it meant I could have my treatment and go home with less stress," as he completed 37 radiotherapy sessions.
“It was critical to have the right to services and infrastructure available to residents,” Pete Marland, Milton Keynes council leader added.
The official opening was attended by clinicians, senior staff of OUH and MKUH, Milton Keynes City Council representatives, construction firm Morgan Sindall, NHS England, Milton Keynes Hospital Charity and their equipment provider Ergea UK.
