The Christie to open new £26m Macclesfield cancer centre

The Christie says the new centre would provide care for more than 1,500 patients a year

Specialist cancer hospital The Christie is set to open a new £26m cancer centre in Cheshire.

Plans for the site in the grounds of Macclesfield District General Hospital have been approved by Cheshire East Council.

The Christie said the centre would care for patients in Cheshire, North Staffordshire and the High Peak area of Derbyshire.

Work on the site is set to begin in early 2020.

It will bring together cancer services - including radiotherapy, chemotherapy, holistic support, outpatient care, palliative care and clinical trials - into one purpose-built site, the Christie said.

The centre will include specialist examination rooms, a CT simulator where treatments are planned, plus counselling and complementary therapy rooms.

It will have space to accommodate 40,000 patient visits a year including 15,000 radiotherapy treatments and 4,000 chemotherapy treatments.

Dr Andrew Sykes, clinical lead for the new centre, said: "Whilst patients and families are prepared to travel to The Christie in Withington for specialist services, we know that most would prefer to have those services locally where possible."

The Christie is based in south Manchester and also has local radiotherapy centres in Oldham and Salford.