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A lead contractor has been appointed to oversee the construction of a new two-storey building to house the proposed Christie at Macclesfield cancer centre.
Demolition work on the site has been completed by Galliford Try and VINCI Construction UK has been appointed to deliver the construction of the new £26m cancer centre. VINCI Construction UK is one of the partners in Integrated Health Projects who are also the lead constructor for The Christie’s new £150m cancer research centre.
The project was initially aiming for completion in autumn 2021, but the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic means that completion will be delayed until the end of 2021.
Nearby residents have been informed and, as part of the Considerate Constructors Scheme, VINCI Construction UK has given a commitment to do everything possible to minimise disruption during the project.
The plans for the new cancer centre were approved by East Cheshire Council in September 2019 and demolition started in February 2020, just weeks before the COVID-19 lockdown.
The Christie at Macclesfield will transform cancer care in Cheshire, the High Peak area of Derbyshire and parts of North Staffordshire, providing care closer to home for more than 1,500 existing Christie patients a year.
It will bring together essential cancer services into one purpose-built centre delivering local specialist access to radiotherapy, chemotherapy, holistic support and information services, outpatient care, palliative care and a wider range of clinical trials. Around 40,000 appointments per year will take place at the new centre.
Dr Andrew Sykes, director of clinical oncology and clinical lead for The Christie at Macclesfield, said: “Our focus for the last three months has rightly been on continuing to provide safe and effective cancer care to our patients and in supporting patients who are worried about COVID-19. But with the first wave of the pandemic now behind us, we can once again move forward with our ambitious plans for a new cancer centre in Macclesfield. The new centre will deliver cancer care to the highest Christie standards, but closer to where patients live.
“We also hope that as things start to get back to normal in our communities that fundraising for this vital project across Macclesfield and East Cheshire will pick up again. We still need to raise around £20m towards the overall cost of this project.
“Many patients currently travel to The Christie in South Manchester for their appointments, with long journey times putting tremendous pressure on patients and their families at an already stressful time.”
Planning for the new centre has taken into account East Cheshire’s ageing population and the predicted increase in demand for specialist cancer services in future years. Patients identified as being frail will receive additional support.
Work on the cancer centre is expected to be completed by the end of 2021, ready for patients in 2022.
You can find out how to support the project on The Christie Cancer Centre at Macclesfield fundraising appeal page.
The Christie charity supports the work of The Christie NHS Foundation Trust providing enhanced services over and above what the NHS funds. This includes money for care and treatment, research, education and extra patient services. Gifts from the public make a huge difference to the care and treatment that The Christie is able to provide to patients and their families.
The Christie NHS Foundation Trust was the first specialist trust to be rated as ‘Outstanding’ twice (in 2016 and 2018) by the health regulator the Care Quality Commission (CQC). It referred to The Christie as ‘a leader in cancer care’ and ‘a pioneer in developing innovative solutions to cancer care.’ The CQC praised the Trust’s staff which it said ‘go the extra mile to meet the needs of patients and their families’ and that they were ‘exceptionally kind and caring.’ In 2017, the CQC rated The Christie as the best specialist trust in the country, and one of the top three trusts overall in England.
