ROYAL SURREY COUNTY HOSPITAL AND SURREY AND SUSSEX HEALTHCARE AGREE PARTNERSHIP TO DELIVER RADIOTHERAPY SERVICES AT REDHILL

A £10M development has been agreed between the Royal Surrey County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Surrey and Sussex NHS Trust to provide radiotherapy from the East Surrey Hospital site. 

The development will mean that patients from East Surrey currently travelling to Guildford for radiotherapy will be able to receive treatment much closer to home.  Plans for the facility are now with Reigate & Banstead Borough Council for consideration.   

Dr Marianne Illsley, Lead Cancer Clinician for the Royal Surrey County Hospital, said: 

“This development will place two state of the art radiotherapy linear accelerators (Linacs) at East Surrey Hospital and will transform the radiotherapy service and patient experience for people living in the Redhill, Reigate, Crawley and Horsham areas. 

“Around 30% of the patients we treat at the St Luke’s Cancer Centre in Guildford are from East Surrey and north-east West Sussex and will now be able to benefit from the most advanced radiotherapy techniques on their door step.  The unit will also include a CT scanner for radiotherapy treatment planning.  This means that most patients will no longer need to travel to Guildford for any stage of the planning or treatment phases of radiotherapy.” 

The radiotherapy unit is expected to be open by the end of 2013 and work is now underway between the two Trusts to move ahead with the development.   

Chief Executive of Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust Michael Wilson said: 

“This is good news for patients living in Surrey and Sussex as it will provide care closer to home.  It is also an example of how by working in partnership with other hospitals we are securing the future of hospital services on this site.  The radiotherapy team from St Luke’s Cancer Centre at the Royal Surrey have an excellent reputation and will provide a range of treatments from the new unit.” 

 Chief Executive of Royal Surrey County Hospital Nick Moberly added: 

“This is a very exciting project, which will have benefits for a large number of patients, and also the two hospital Trusts.  It will help to cement our existing clinical partnerships and we are looking forward to working closely with Surrey and Sussex Healthcare to develop this new facility for patients.”