New £6m chemo unit at Royal Lancaster Infirmary will improve patient and staff experience

The new unit, which will be located in the former Ward 3 in Medical Unit 1, will have more space, a bright and modern interior and the capacity to see more patients closer to their homes.

University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust (UHMBT) is building the new unit to help ensure that patients can have their treatment close to home and in a comfortable environment.

Dr Sarah Moon, a consultant oncologist for UHMBT, said: “It is absolutely essential that we have a chemotherapy unit in Lancaster.

“We have a lot of patients in the area who need chemotherapy and clinic appointments close to home, so it’s important to have a unit in Lancaster.”

Robin Wilson, unit manager for the Oncology and Haematology Service in Lancaster and Kendal, said: “The new unit will massively improve the patient experience.

“It will also be a healthier physical environment for staff to work in due to the additional space. We are currently treating about 50 people a day in Lancaster in the days when we’re using the chemotherapy bay at the RLI.

"When the new unit opens, we will have around 14 treatment chairs running five days a week with a constant flow through that.

“We’ll potentially have around 40 to 50 patients a day over five days in Lancaster. That’s 200 plus patients having treatment. We will also have the ability to run up to 10 clinic rooms a day between oncology and haematology for outpatient clinic appointments in the new unit.”

The trust’s Oncology and Haematology Service moved from the RLI to Westmorland General Hospital in Kendal in March 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic to ensure patient safety.

The service is still temporarily based at Kendal, however since August 2022, the team has had a temporary chemotherapy bay two days a week, on Mondays and Thursdays, at the RLI.

This chemotherapy bay at the RLI is purely for the delivery of treatment and all patients who use the Oncology and Haematology Service currently have their outpatient appointments at WGH.

At present, the majority of patients travel to Kendal for chemotherapy and clinic appointments.

The Oncology and Haematology Team is in contact with patients and is keeping people informed of developments within the service.

Patients who would normally use the Oncology and Haematology services at WGH will still be fully catered for.

Dr Moon added: “We’re not reducing any of the care that was delivered in Kendal prior to the pandemic; in fact we are also hoping to increase the capacity in Kendal compared to what we had before the pandemic.

“Patients from Kendal will still have the opportunity to have treatment in Kendal where it is safe to do so.”

The trust’s Capital Services Team is managing the project from design concept through to the construction phase and handover.

Staff and stakeholder engagement took place during the design process. Construction is progressing well and the proposed handover date is October, with the first patients being treated shortly afterwards.

Members of the public can view images which are on display in the hospital restaurant showing how the unit will look on completion. The interior design includes natural wood finishes and pale neutral colours with images of trees and blue skies.

During the recent National Healthcare Estates and Facilities Day in June, there were guided tours of the construction site that were well supported and hugely successful. The tours gave a glimpse of how complicated a scheme of this magnitude can be inside a listed building.

Over the coming months the progress of the development will continue to be shared with the public and staff. The exact opening date for the new unit will be announced in due course.