HAMPSHIRE Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has reached another milestone in its plans to create a new cancer treatment centre on the North Hampshire Hospital site at Basingstoke, by appointing the team who will design it.

BDP will work with Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Andover War Memorial Hospital, Basingstoke and North Hampshire Hospital and Royal Hampshire County Hospital, to design a state-of-the-art building in which patients will be able to access essential cancer treatments, supportive care and therapies all under one roof.

Chemotherapy is already provided in Basingstoke and Winchester, but patients have to travel to Southampton or Guildford for radiotherapy.

This can mean a daily journey for weeks when patients are feeling unwell and vulnerable. Patients also need to visit a variety of other places for supportive care. The new cancer centre will provide radiotherapy, chemotherapy, palliative care and therapies, as well as information, advice and psychological support for patients and their families in an outstanding environment.

For full story, see this week's Alton Herald.