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Plans have been revealed for a new Health and Wellbeing Campus to be developed at Altnegelvin Area Hospital in L'Derry.
The proposals were unveiled by The Western Trust and Macmillan Cancer Support.
The new campus will be for patients, carers and their families living with cancer and other long term conditions such as diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, arthritis and hypertension.
The joint plans include the construction of a new £1 million purpose-built Macmillan Cancer Information and Support Centre together with the refurbishment of the adjacent Agnes Jones House to support long term condition management of chronic conditions. The proposed developments will use an interlinking walkway and garden between the Macmillan Cancer Information and Support Centre and Agnes Jones House.
Construction work is due to begin in the Autumn 2015 with the new campus planned be fully operational by late 2016 at the same time as the new Radiotherapy Unit at Altnagelvin.
Western Trust Chairman Gerard Guckian said: "This is another exciting chapter in the development of cancer services in the Western Trust. We are delighted to be working in partnership with Macmillan Cancer Support on this ground-breaking project to provide a dedicated information and support facility for people living with and beyond cancer. This project also gives us the opportunity to expand on the provision and delivery of information and support services for those living with long term chronic conditions.
"As a Trust our aim is to provide high quality patient-centred care and this partnership with Macmillan is just that – wrapping the care and support around the patient and their family as and when they need it. My view is that this has the capacity, along with our new Radiotherapy Centre, to transform cancer care in the North West of Ireland. Although part of this project is about building new facilities it starts and ends with people – patients and the professionals and volunteers who will care for and support them. We hope that we can take some of the fear out of the cancer diagnosis and let patients know that no-one will have face cancer alone.
"The Health and Wellbeing Campus will no doubt touch the lives of so many people in the Western Trust area and in the Republic of Ireland for years to come."
(CD)
