Patients and their loved ones will soon be able to benefit from more than just treatment throughout their cancer journey at Colchester Hospital.
Work is underway now to build a new cancer wellbeing centre, which will offer services and support in conjunction with the hospital’s Collingwood Centre.
Front row, left to right, Colin Bennett and Peter Wilson representing the Cancer Centre Campaign fundraising committee, cut the turf.
It is being built in a peaceful lakeside location close to the main hospital building so people can access services in a peaceful area of calm away from busy clinical areas.
The Colchester and Ipswich Hospitals Charity Cancer Centre Campaign has made this project possible.
The appeal to raise £3.25million launched in 2014 with the aim of providing a state-of-the-art cancer centre in north Essex, bringing together chemotherapy, haematology and radiotherapy under one roof.
Known as The Collingwood Centre, it will be complemented by the cancer wellbeing centre which will offer counselling and support services for patients, carers and families.
Sarah Orr, lead cancer nurse at East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust (ESNEFT), which runs Colchester Hospital, said: “The cancer wellbeing centre will provide a hospital related service for our patients, but in quieter and more relaxed surroundings.
“We’ve deliberately chosen to build it in a relatively secluded location away from the busy environment of the main hospital. Here we’ll be able to offer more than just treatment to support patients and their families through diagnosis, treatment and adjusting to life after cancer.”
The cancer wellbeing centre will offer specialist information advice and resources, including welfare benefits advice, counselling services, complementary therapies, physical activity services, hair and skincare advice, practical support and dietary advice. It will also be a venue for self-help and support groups.
Victoria Plumridge, of the Colchester Hospital Cancer Services User Group, said: “I’m so excited about this new build and the services it will offer.
“It really will make a huge difference to the experiences of those patients and carers who receive or experience a cancer diagnosis and treatment.”
Both the cancer wellbeing centre and The Collingwood Centre are due to open in December.
Peter Wilson, chairman of the Cancer Centre Campaign’s fundraising committee said: “We are delighted to have been part of the campaign to build The Collingwood Centre and cancer wellbeing centre.
“We are still raising funds for finishing touches and donations can be made at http://www.colchesteripswichcharity.org.uk/cancercentrecampaign/.”
The work is being carried out by West Mersea-based developers, Stroods Specialist Contractors.
An artist’s impression of how the new facility will look.