We officially marked the start of building work on a multi-million pound cancer centre at the Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle in January 2020 – a partnership between ourselves and North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust.
This exciting development will create a modern state-of-the-art environment for staff, patients, carers and their relatives. It demonstrates our shared vision and long-term commitment to delivering high quality, clinically safe and sustainable cancer services to the people of North Cumbria.
While North Cumbria will oversee the building of the new centre, once complete it will be run by our Trust as part of the Northern Centre for Cancer Care (NCCC). Newcastle oncologist specialists will work with the existing teams to provide additional resilience to the service.
The two Trusts are working in partnership to develop a new cancer centre on the Cumberland Infirmary site in Carlisle which is planned to open in the autumn of 2021.
The £35million development (capital & equipment) will house a chemotherapy day unit (with 15 treatment chairs and three single bedrooms), two linear accelerator (LINAC) radiotherapy machines and a CT scanner as well as outpatients, consultation and examination rooms and a small café area.
Work to demolish the tower block building at the Infirmary to make way for the new centre was completed towards the end of 2019 and construction on the new build has begun.
At present, cancer services in Carlisle are spread out on different parts of the Cumberland Infirmary site and our ambition is to realign them under one roof. For example, radiotherapy is on the lower ground floor while chemotherapy is provided at Reiver House – a separate building in front of the main hospital.
The environment on the whole is considered out-dated and patient experience is hindered because of this. This development will create modern, state-of-the art facilities with vital equipment for staff, patients, carers and their relatives.
It will also mean that together the trusts will be providing one of the biggest combined cancer treatment services in the country. At present a decision has not been made on a name for the centre.
Patients in West Cumbria will still access cancer services, such as chemotherapy, in Whitehaven.
