The doors have officially opened to a new radiotherapy centre in Milton Keynes, sparing thousands of cancer patients each year from a lengthy 70-mile round trip to Oxford for vital treatment.
OUH Radiotherapy @ Milton Keynes is run by an expert multidisciplinary team from Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (OUH), and linked to the Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Trust (MKUH) Cancer Centre. Ergéa facilitated the installation of ‘state-of-the-art’ equipment and technology at the new radiotherapy centre, enabling treatment on a TrueBeam Linear Accelerator equipped with the latest Identify system. This surface-guided radiotherapy (SGRT) technology uses 3D imaging to precisely position and monitor patients during treatment, ‘improving accuracy, while also enhancing patient comfort by eliminating the need for permanent skin markings in most cases’.
Ergéa said: “This is the first Linear Accelerator (linac) of its kind in the Milton Keynes area. As part of our long-term Managed Service partnership with OUH, we have also provided a CT-Simulator to support high-quality, integrated cancer care.
The facility began welcoming patients in January, and was officially opened by two of the more than 200 patients who have been treated so far, joined at the opening by clinicians and senior staff from OUH and MKUH, and representatives from partners, Milton Keynes City Council, construction firm, Morgan Sindall, Milton Keynes Hospital Charity, NHS England, and Ergéa UK, the managed equipment service provider in the UK.
The new centre, an expansion of OUH’s radiotherapy service, is expected to save 6,500 round trips of approximately 70 miles annually.
Previously, almost all patients from Milton Keynes and the surrounding area needing radiotherapy travelled much further afield to Oxford and other places for their treatment.
Radiotherapy patients, Jen McAuliffe, and Martin Flynn, both from Milton Keynes, cut the ribbon to officially open the OUH Radiotherapy @ Milton Keynes centre.
Built by contractor, Morgan Sindall Construction, the £17 m facility, funded jointly by MKUH with the aid of a grant from Milton Keynes City Council and OUH with financial support from NHS England, strengthens the OUH-MKUH partnership, which already includes OUH delivering renal services and some cardiology services in Milton Keynes.
