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Work starts on OUH Swindon Radiotherapy Centre on the Great Western Hospital site

03/08/2020
This article is more than three years old.
Oxford University Hospitals is delighted to announce the start on site of its project to build a new Radiotherapy Centre on the Great Western Hospital site in Swindon. Work is due to start on Monday 3 August. As with other construction projects across the country, the start date was delayed as a result of COVID-19.

Every effort will be made to make up time to get as close to the original timetable as possible, which should see work completed by the end of 2021. In the event of a second wave of COVID-19, this timetable might need to be revised.

Sam Foster, Chief Nursing Officer at OUH said: "Bringing radiotherapy to Swindon has been a long-standing priority for the local NHS. We are working closely with Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and John Sisk & Son Ltd, the building contractors, to ensure building progresses as quickly as possible now we are able to start. 

"The difference this new facility will make to local cancer patients and their families is so important. The reduction in travel time means less stress and anxiety and more time to do other things. I am so pleased we are finally able to start work. I look forward to tracking the progress."

Kevin McNamara, Chief Executive, Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: "This project was made possible thanks to the £2.9 million raised by Brighter Futures' Radiotherapy Appeal, through the generous donations and fundraising efforts of local people. 

"After years of campaigning and fundraising, we are eternally grateful for all the support we have received to help make this this happen.

"Bringing radiotherapy to Swindon will make a huge difference to the lives of hundreds of local families and we are all so pleased to see building work finally start.

"The Swindon Radiotherapy Centre will be an incredible legacy of the community spirit of Swindon and the surrounding communities."

It is estimated that the new centre will save over 13,000 journeys to Oxford every year, alongside anxiety, stress and precious time.  The OUH Swindon Radiotherapy Centre, which will be built on the Great Western Hospital site, is an expansion of Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust’s radiotherapy service, currently provided solely from the Churchill Hospital in Oxford.

Oxford University Hospitals has invested £18.4 million in this project and local people have donated an incredible £2.9 million towards the specialist equipment needed to provide radiotherapy in Swindon, through Brighter Futures’ Radiotherapy Appeal. 
 

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