£9m cancer centre officially opened

Christine Talbot from ITV Calendar cuts the ribbon

A £9million centre for cancer and haematology patients at Harrogate District Hospital has been officially opened.

The Sir Robert Ogden Macmillan Centre is a new outpatient oncology and information centre, providing a state-of-the-art facility for people affected by cancer in North Yorkshire.

The build has been made possible thanks to a £3.5million donation by Sir Robert Ogden. This figure was matched by Macmillan Cancer Support, while Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust provided £2million. The centre was built to replace an outpatient haematology and chemotherapy unit at the hospital, which wasn’t large enough to meet a growing need. The centre also means many patients in Harrogate no longer have to travel to Leeds or York for treatment.

Lady Halifax, President of Macmillan Cancer Support, said: “This beautiful and innovative new centre makes an enormous difference to local people affected by cancer and their families. Not only do they benefit from not having to travel longer distances to Leeds or York, but they’re also receiving the very latest in cancer treatment, in an incredibly calm and relaxing, state-of-the-art centre. It’s an inspirational place to be. The official opening is an exciting and significant day for Macmillan, and the culmination of a successful partnership with Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust and Sir Robert Ogden.”

Lady Halifax meets some of the team based at the Sir Robert Ogden Macmillan Centre

Lady Halifax was on hand to unveil a plaque at the centre, while Christine Talbot from ITV Calendar shared her own experiences of cancer before cutting the ribbon.

The new centre includes a treatment area, which has 14 chairs for patients to receive chemotherapy, and separate surgical areas for procedures such as blood tests. There is also space for six clinic rooms, two rooms for counselling and a staff room. By the main entrance is the supportive care, health and wellbeing area, where services include patient information and support, complementary therapies and welfare benefits advice.

Sir Robert Ogden said: “I am delighted that the people of North Yorkshire now have a new cancer treatment and resource centre. I am proud to have been closely involved in the project and I am certain that the Harrogate Centre will prove to be as successful as the earlier centre I funded with Macmillan at St James’s Hospital Leeds”.

Sir Robert Ogden speaks to staff at the centre

Construction of the centre began in autumn 2012 and was completed by the end of 2013. Staff and services moved across in March 2014. The design of the centre was heavily influenced by patient representatives and delivers Macmillan’s quality environment standards – a benchmark for cancer patient experience.

Sandra Dodson, Chairman of Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We are delighted to officially be opening this fabulous facility, which is already giving significant benefits to the quality of care that we can provide to cancer patients and their families. Within the Centre, in addition to high quality clinical care, we are now able to offer additional support services, including the Welfare and Benefits Service, which has already helped patients to claim £1million in benefits since launching less than a year ago. An expanded range of complementary therapies and facilities, a hairdressing service for patients whose hair is re-growing after cancer treatment and a wide range of support group and advice meetings are among the other services that are now helping us to offer a more rounded package of care to cancer patients.”

The centre has been praised for its calm and relaxing atmosphere

Dr Ros Tolcher, Chief Executive, added: “Our highly trained and dedicated staff are already receiving some fantastic feedback from patients who are telling us how much better the Centre is than the previous facility, allowing them to feel more relaxed which can only help with their treatment. We take great care to listen to the views of our service users and we are proud we have come third nationally, and first in Yorkshire, in a league table measuring patient experience across England, based on research commissioned by NHS England. We were only able to build the Centre thanks to the tremendous generosity of Sir Robert Ogden and Macmillan Cancer Support, to whom we are extremely grateful.”