15 December 2005

NEWS RELEASE

Deal signed on Cancer Centre and new hospital facilities in Oxford

Building work to start immediately

A multi-million pound deal has been signed between the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals and healthcare consortium, OCHRE Solutions Limited, for the development of a new cancer centre, and other facilities, at the Churchill Hospital in Oxford. Building work will start immediately. The development, which will cost £109 million to build, is being managed through the government’s Private Finance Initiative (PFI).

The new centre, which will open in the spring of 2008, will bring together cancer services currently based at the Radcliffe Infirmary and John Radcliffe Hospitals in Oxford, as well as services currently housed in outdated buildings on the Churchill Hospital site. It will provide facilities for the full range of modern diagnostic, medical and surgical cancer services and will include:

  • additional medical and surgical beds for cancer patients
  • a new radiology department
  • a new head and neck cancer surgery centre
  • new linear accelerators for radiotherapy
  • 12 additional places for chemotherapy patients.

The Radcliffe Infirmary will close to patients in early 2007.

In addition to cancer services, the development will also include new facilities to support other services on the Churchill Hospital site. These include physiotherapy services, a high dependency unit, ten operating theatres and a private patients’ unit. As well as cancer patients, these new facilities will benefit renal, transplant, chest medicine and urology patients.

Lead Cancer Consultant for the Trust, Chris Alcock, said:

“We have been planning the cancer centre for a number of years, and seeing the building work begin will be tremendously exciting. Oxford is already a leading centre for the quality of its cancer services, and for its teaching and research in the field. All those involved in cancer care realise that the environment in which patients are treated is extremely important, and are delighted with the design of the new Centre.”

The project is being developed by OCHRE Solutions Limited, a consortium comprising the Italian engineering and construction company, Impregilo; Barclays Bank Limited; and the facilities management company, Global Solutions Limited. The consortium will build the new facilities, provide facilities’ management such as portering, cleaning and catering, and will also supply and maintain much of the large equipment.

The cancer centre and new facilities have been designed by the USA-based company, Steffian Bradley Architects. The building has been designed to have very low energy use, and to be environmentally-friendly. The design features a geothermal heating system, based on a pump which conducts heat from 120 metres below the earth’s surface and provides under-floor heating. In summer, the pump works in reverse, to abstract heat from the building and provide a cooling system. The design also uses a rainwater harvesting system, which collects and purifies rain water for use in toilet cisterns and elsewhere. The building was designed with advice from cancer patients, to be as light as possible and to use natural materials.

Project Director, Vickie Holcroft, said:

“This is an extremely complex project, which has changed considerably from the original plans. It has taken a great deal of hard work to reach this point in the project, and will take a great more to complete. The companies which make up the OCHRE consortium have considerable experience in a wide range of similar projects across the world, and I look forward to working with them to see this project through to completion.”

Chief Executive, Trevor Campbell Davis, said:

“Signing of the contract for the cancer centre and supporting facilities at the Churchill Hospital completes an extensive programme of redevelopment and modernisation. In 2007, we will move services from the 18th century Radcliffe Infirmary in the City centre, to the 21st Century Oxford Children’s Hospital and to a new wing for adult services, on the John Radcliffe Hospital site. The Churchill Hospital development is the final piece of the jigsaw. Planning these developments was a very ambitious undertaking, and my admiration and thanks go to all of the staff involved.”

ENDS

For further information please contact Rachel Yates on 01865 228932 or 07720557274

Notes to editors

Original plans for the Churchill Hospital site were agreed by the Trust in 2002. These included the cancer centre, and a new geratology centre. During the development of these plans, it was agreed that geratology services should be based in the community and at the John Radcliffe Hospital, which is already a base for emergency and general medical services. It was also agreed that the plans should include additional facilities to support other services based at the Churchill Hospital.

The new buildings will include:

  • 10,000 square metres of terracotta cladding
  • 2600 doors
  • 1400 windows
  • 15, 000 square metres of external landscaping

JHO_JAN2606R09.doc