Cancer patients in North Norfolk will be able to receive treatment closer to home following the announcement of a new £4.8m cancer centre.
Work is underway on the £4.85m North Norfolk Macmillan Centre at Cromer and District Hospital which will see an additional 10,000 additional outpatient appointments a year.
Norwich based company Penaco Construction ltd have begun refurbishing and extending the hospital’s disused Davison unit.
With demand for cancer services expected to increase by more than 200pc over the next decade, Macmillan Cancer Support the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (NNUH) and the Norfolk & Norwich Hospitals Charity are working in partnership on the project.
Macmillan has invested £2.2million into the centre with a further £1.8m raised by the hospital charity, one of its largest ever grants.
Gwyneth Tyler, Macmillan head of services for South and East England, said: “Macmillan is making a significant investment in the North Norfolk Macmillan Centre, to help thousands of people to access cancer treatment and support closer to their home.”
Currently, Cromer Hospital provides a range of acute out-patient and day case services and runs a minor injuries unit with cancer patients in the Cromer area having to travel to Norwich for treatment.
As part of the new centre, 36 patients will be seen a day through the creation of six chemotherapy treatment chairs.
There will also be a Macmillan cancer information centre, three clinic rooms and two minor procedure rooms which will create space for new cancer diagnostics, including prostate biopsy.
The project aims to free up space in the main hospital to deliver an extra 600 surgical procedures in dermatology, urology, vascular surgery and pain management.
During construction, North Norfolk District Council has granted permission for 57 parking spaces for contractors at the Cabbell Park, Mill Road, to allow the main car park to stay clear.
Sam Higginson, chief executive of NNUH, said: “Our facilities at Cromer enable us to deliver first class services to the population in North Norfolk and further afield. We have a large cancer centre in Norwich and this expansion will provide additional capacity to meet the needs of an older, rural patient group in first class surroundings.”
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