Plans to 'future proof' cancer treatment in Shrewsbury lodged
The plan includes extending the radiotherapy building at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital
Health bosses are hoping to ‘future proof’ cancer treatments at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital after plans to add an extension to the radiotherapy building were lodged.
Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust(SaTH) have applied for full planning application to build a new Linear Accelerator(Linac) bunker at the Radiotherapy Department at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital.
If approved, the scheme would see the existing radiotherapy area extended to house an additional linear accelerator machine, which targets cancerous tumours with high-energy x-rays or electrons.
The hospital trust says the new machine would not be an expansion of the service – but would allow the department to continue to deliver the life-saving treatment to the same number of patients when one of the other three machines on site is taken down for maintenance or repair.
“Royal Shrewsbury Hospital are planning to build a replacement Linac Bunker (no. 4) to supplement the 3 already on site. This fourth bunker is not to provide an ‘additional Linac’, it is to add capacity to the Linac machine’s available to NHS staff and to allow a ‘managed future rotational maintenance regime’,” said a planning statement submitted with the application.
“Linac’s are always in use to deal with the optimum number of patients – so this future proofing will require an extension to the accommodation in the existing Radiotherapy Department to maintain optimum capacity at the hospital.”
A courtyard sited near the existing helipad at the Shrewsbury hospital site will be cleared to make way for the new extension ‘bunker’, which will have walls and ceilings of up to 2 metres of thick concrete.
Last month, SaTH announced they were decommissioning a ten-year-old machine which was reaching the end of it’s working life.
Dr John Jones, Director of Medicine for the Trust, said in a statement: “The investment in the new LINAC and bunker means we can maintain and enhance capacity so we can provide high quality care to our patients in a timely way.
“We remain committed to advancing cancer care and ensuring that patients receive the highest standard of treatment. This new LINAC facility underscores this commitment.”
The trust says work is expected to be completed by the end of this year, with a replacement LINAC being installed by early 2025.
Shropshire Council will decide on the plans in due course.