The Royal United Hospitals Bath (RUH) NHS Foundation Trust’s new Dyson Cancer Centre will welcome its first patients this week (commencing 22 April 2024).
The purpose-built facility, at Royal United Hospital, brings under one roof many of the RUH’s cancer services to provide a cancer services hub for over 500,000 people in the South West. RUH Chief Executive, Cara Charles-Barks, said: “This is a major milestone for our community. We know cancer affects many lives, and this new centre will help transform the care we provide for the people we care for and their loved ones, and provide an exceptional working environment for our dedicated staff. Together with patients, staff, and those with an interest in cancer services, we’ve looked at every aspect of the care we provide, and the surroundings we provide it in. We’ve worked to create a place where excellent clinical care is matched by a healing environment.
“Thoughtful interior design, the use of natural light, and over 100 artworks and art installations – many influenced by the local environment – create a soothing, welcoming space, to balance the hi-tech facilities housed in the new centre. We're grateful to everyone who has helped us create this amazing building.”
The Dyson Cancer Centre includes the RUH's oncology, chemotherapy and radiotherapy services, a 22-bed inpatient ward, a dedicated pharmacy, research team, and nuclear medicine and physics teams. The new cancer treatment facility was backed by over £40 m in Government funding as part of the New Hospital Programme, plus an additional £10 m via a fundraising campaign from RUHX, the hospital's official charity – including a £4 m donation from the James Dyson Foundation, and £1 m from the Medlock Charitable Trust.
Rhyannon Boyd, head of RUHX said: "We are so proud of, and grateful to, all of our wonderful supporters who helped create this transformational new centre for their community, for today and in the future. Over 11,000 amazing donors raised £10 m pounds to make the Dyson Cancer Centre extra-extraordinary.”
Sir James Dyson and Lady Deirdre Dyson visited the new centre just as it was nearing completion. The Dysons have a strong connection to the RUH, having welcomed two of their children at the hospital. The James Dyson Foundation previously supported the construction of the award-winning Dyson Centre for Neonatal Care at the RUH with donations, design work, and research. James Dyson said: “Both my parents died far too young from cancer, so I’ve always tried to support causes that involve treating or researching this terrible disease.
Bath and the South West desperately needed a new cancer hospital to serve 500,000 people and carry out cutting-edge research – and I was pleased we could continue helping the RUH, after the success of the Dyson Centre for Neonatal Care. The Dyson Cancer Centre has state-of-the-art equipment, such as CT gamma scanners, which allow patients to have two specialist scans simultaneously. It will also be home to vital research programmes in nuclear medicine and medical physics, and more than 60 live clinical trials – all under one roof.”
A key feature is the three-storey Macmillan Wellbeing Hub, supported by a £1.5 m donation from Macmillan Cancer Support, which will offer a welcoming, non-clinical space designed around patients’ and their families’ needs. It will also include comfortable accommodation where relatives and loved ones can stay overnight.
Construction partner, Kier, broke ground on the Dyson Cancer Centre in July 2021, and has managed a complex project within the constraints of a busy hospital site.
