A POSITIVE new chapter has opened for cancer patients in north Cumbria with the launch of a new £35m facility at Carlisle's Cumberland Infirmary.

The first patients were this week welcomed to The Northern Centre for Cancer Care.

The facility - the culmination of two years’ work by health chiefs at Newcastle Hospitals and North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust (NCIC) - brings all non-surgical cancer services under one roof for the first time.

It means patients will no longer have to travel to different parts of the Infirmary for their treatment.

NHS bosses say the centre will bring huge benefits for north Cumbrian cancer patients, allowing them to access state-of-the-art facilities and receive care closer to home.

Only child or younger patients, and those with rare cancers, who need very specialist radiotherapy, will continue to be referred to Newcastle's Freeman Hospital.

Around 2,000 patients are already set to receive treatment or follow-up care at the new centre , though there are likely to be around 1,200 new referrals each year.

The centre's team expect also to deliver annually around 11,500 radiotherapy treatments and 8,000 chemotherapy treatments, as well as 4,000 supportive therapy treatments.

Lyn Simpson, Chief Executive at NCIC, said: “I know many people have closely watched the progress of the centre since construction began and it's excellent to see the building now complete and welcoming patients.

"The opening of the centre in partnership with Newcastle Hospitals is a real milestone in our journey to improve cancer services for patients across north Cumbria.”

Kiyla Murray, the matron for chemotherapy services at Newcastle Hospitals, said: “It’s been really lovely to welcome our first patients this week, this is such an important development for them.

"They’ve all been so impressed so far and it’s great that we’re able to offer our patients all of these services within the new centre and reducing the need for them to travel quite so far to receive their treatment.”

The building will be managed by NCIC and services at the centre will be run by Newcastle Hospitals as part of the Northern Centre for Cancer Care.

In April, around 80 members of staff from North Cumbria’s non-surgical oncology service joined the Newcastle team.

They will be supported by porters, housekeepers, estates and facilities staff from NCIC who will manage the maintenance of the building.

Together the trusts will be providing one of the biggest combined cancer treatment services in the country.

Dame Jackie Daniel, Chief Executive at Newcastle Hospitals said: “We’re delighted to have welcomed our first patients at the Northern Centre for Cancer Care, North Cumbria.

“The centre looks fantastic and all of the teams involved have worked incredibly hard to make sure this is a calm and comfortable environment for our patients.

“The development of the centre demonstrates our commitment to providing high quality and sustainable cancer services to people across north Cumbria and supporting patients to receive care closer to home.”