On the 27th June, a major new cancer hospital will open in Liverpool and will play a role in the second phase response to Covid-19 by the NHS in providing dedicated capacity for cancer care.
The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre – Liverpool, or CCC-L, will allow the NHS to resume normal clinical activity in Cheshire and Merseyside.
The new hospital will provide protected facilities for those with cancer who are at increased risk if they catch coronavirus.
The new hospital will also release capacity for some other hospitals in the region.
The hospital will be based in Liverpool’s Knowledge Quarter and is part of a £162million investment in transforming cancer care for the 2.4million people of Cheshire and Merseyside.
The region is the most likely for people to develop cancers than anywhere else in the country.
The hospital has 11 storeys where construction work began in 2017.
Services that the hospital will deliver include chemotherapy (which the trust describes as ‘pioneering’), immunotherapy, gene therapy and radiotherapy.
The hospital has ‘state-of-the-art’ facilities for bone marrow transplant, diagnostics and imaging, outpatients, daycase treatments, a teenage & young adult unit, clinical therapies as well as wide ranging cancer support.
The hospital is said to be able to deliver ‘enhanced care’ for ‘complex patients’ – those with heart, lung and kidney conditions for example as well as cancer.
Enhanced care is essentially rapid access to medical and surgical specialities.
The new hospital will become the ‘main hub’ in The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust’s network of treatment centres.
Dr Liz Bishop, Chief Executive of The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust, said:
“Clatterbridge Cancer Centre – Liverpool is the culmination of an eight-year vision for transforming cancer care in a region with one of the highest rates of cancer in the country.
“It brings state-of-the-art facilities and pioneering cancer treatments to Cheshire and Merseyside at a time when they are more vitally needed than ever.
“We are tremendously excited about opening Clatterbridge Cancer Centre – Liverpool. It has been a huge labour of love and I would like to pay tribute to our staff, the Laing O’Rourke site team, our suppliers, subcontractors and all the partners who have helped to bring it to fruition.”
Metro Mayor of the Liverpool City Region Steve Rotheram said:
“The opening of this crucial facility will be of huge benefit to the people of the city region.
“This is especially good news in these current testing times when NHS resources have been so stretched dealing with coronavirus.
“It adds to our city region’s strengths in health and life sciences and is yet another world-leading asset for the growing Knowledge Quarter.”
Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson said:
“The opening of the new Clatterbridge Cancer Centre is fantastic news for Liverpool and the region, and for everyone who will receive world class treatment there.
“The building, the research and the care that will take place there is a tremendous boost to the city’s position as a world leader in medicine – and further underlines the growing international reputation of our multi-billion-pound Knowledge Quarter, with the nearby Paddington Village also quickly taking shape.”
Paul McNerney, Director of UK Building at Laing O’Rourke, said:
“The opening of Clatterbridge Cancer Centre – Liverpool will enable our remarkable NHS to provide cancer patients from Liverpool and across the North West with the best possible care at this time of national crisis.
“Knowing this made us determined to accelerate completion of the hospital, and I am incredibly proud of the workforce, sub-contractors and partners who are working flat out and have made major changes to how they work to maintain social distancing whilst completing the Centre.
“I know that the whole project team shares in my gratitude to all those working in the NHS and we’re proud to be able to support them by delivering this world class facility.”
