Guildford: Work starts on new £41.5m cancer centre

The new cancer centre will be made up of modular buildings constructed offsite

Work has started on Royal Surrey County Hospital's new Cancer and Surgical Innovation Centre in Guildford.

The £41.5m development, which is expected to be finished by the end of 2025, will house six new operating theatres in modular buildings.

A total of 60% of all surgeries currently performed at the hospital are cancer-related.

The new centre should allow an extra 7,000 patients to receive surgery every year.

The hospital, which is the fourth largest cancer centre in the country, serves a catchment area across south-east England of up to three million people.

Louise Stead, chief executive of Royal Surrey County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, said staff were "very excited" that work had started on the centre, which "will become one of Europe's leading surgical centres".

She said: "As a regional cancer centre and large district general hospital providing a wide range of services, we need to keep adapting to serve our growing population and keep up with the ever-changing technology on offer.

"This whole project is going to transform our services and ensure we are supporting thousands more people on the road to recovery and improving their experience of care."

The new two-storey facility, which will replace Royal Surrey's ageing Surgical Short Stay Unit, will be made up of several modular buildings constructed off-site.

The on-site construction works currently under way are to prepare the ground and fit enabling utilities including a new electricity supply.

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