The Prime Minister, Boris Johnson met patients and staff during a visit to the Northern Centre for Cancer Care, North Cumbria yesterday (Monday 14 February).
The centre on the site of the Cumberland Infirmary was officially opened by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Sajid Javid, in August and supports patients across North Cumbria to access state-of-the-art cancer diagnosis and treatment.
Since its opening last year, almost 1,000 patients have received chemotherapy treatments and over 350 have received their radiotherapy treatment in the new centre. Annually, the expert team expects to deliver 11,500 radiotherapy treatments, 8,000 chemotherapy treatments and 4,000 supportive therapy treatments at the new centre.
The Prime Minister toured the centre and spoke to frontline staff and patients.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said:
“It’s been fantastic to see the massive progress made at the Cumberland Infirmary to deliver better and more treatments with new state-of-the-art technology.
“I would like to thank all the staff here today and indeed across our NHS for everything they do, day in day out, to tackle the covid backlogs and provide people with the best possible care when they need it most.”
The centre has revolutionised cancer treatment for patients across north, west and east Cumbria by bringing new, cutting-edge services under one roof in north Cumbria for the first time including a chemotherapy day unit, radiotherapy machines and a CT scanner as well as outpatients, consultation and examination rooms.
The new facilities means most adult cancer patients in Cumbria will be able to receive care close to home, rather than having to travel.
The Prime Minister was welcomed to the Centre by Newcastle Hospitals’ staff including Directorate Manager Phil Powell.
Phil Powell Directorate Manager – cancer services and clinical Haematology at Newcastle Hospitals said:
“It’s been six months since the centre opened and we’re delighted to be able to offer these state-of-the-art services to our patients in Cumbria.
“The feedback we have received from our patients receiving treatment in the centre has been outstanding. The team here work extremely hard to support our patients during what is an extremely challenging time for them.”
The building is run by North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust and services in the centre are run by The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Together with the Northern Centre for Cancer Care at the Freeman Hospital it is one of the biggest combined cancer treatment services in the country.
