Building work has begun on a new £30.5 million cancer diagnostic and treatment centre in Guildford, Surrey.
Developed in partnership with global care specialist, GenesisCare, and Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust on the site of Royal Surrey County Hospital, this is the most recent private healthcare development from Prime PLC. Made possible by investment from Assura, the ‘pioneering’ new facility will provide patients with access to the latest treatment options for cancer, including highly targeted radiotherapy using a Magnetic Resonance Image Linear Accelerator (MR Linac).
GenesisCare explained: “This exciting technology is not widely available in the UK, but has been shown to improve outcomes for tumours that are moving or difficult to reach.” GenesisCare has used the technology to successfully treat renal, pancreatic, and lung tumours at its Oxford centre, in instances where surgery is not possible due to the complexity of the cancer. It said: “Compared with conventional radiotherapy, treatment can be administered with greater sparing of normal tissues, over a shorter period, resulting in fewer sessions and less disruption for patients. Royal Surrey County Hospital will be one of a handful of Trusts to be able to offer access to this technology to its patients.”
Alongside this build, at the same site, Prime has also secured planning to develop a 600-space multi-storey staff car park serving Royal Surrey County Hospital. Both the cancer centre and car park are being built by VINCI Building, and are expected to achieve a BREEAM ‘Very Good’ rating, with ‘Excellent’ for the Energy component, and an EPC of A. The car park will include PV panels, LED lighting throughout, and EV charging points. There will also be a new sensory garden.
Rob Ferris, Business Development director for Prime, said: “We are seeing increasing demand for our specialist expertise in securing land, planning, and funding, for the development of private cancer care facilities, designed to the highest standards for functionality and sustainability. We have collaborated with GenesisCare and Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust to deliver a solution that will deliver outstanding benefits to the staff and patients of both organisations, and improve health outcomes for the region.”
Practical completion on the GenesisCare centre is expected in autumn 2023.
The MR Linac combines two technologies – an MRI scanner and linear accelerator – to precisely locate tumours and accurately deliver radiation to moving tumours. This accuracy means that doctors can administer powerful treatment dosages while protecting the surrounding healthy tissue and organs.
