Ceremony celebrates start of construction on Milton Keynes’ new radiotherapy centre

A ground-breaking ceremony has been held to mark a key milestone in the development of a new, highly specialist radiotherapy centre at Milton Keynes University Hospital (MKUH).

Guests from the project’s key stakeholders, including Milton Keynes University Hospital, Oxford University Hospitals, Morgan Sindall Construction and Milton Keynes Council, visited the site of the new radiotherapy centre.

During the event, attendees heard presentations from Sally Burnie, MKUH’s Head of Cancer Services and Carol Scott, Lead Therapeutic Radiographer & Deputy Clinical Director at Oxford University Hospitals, explaining how the new facility will improve the treatment that patients receive locally.

Morgan Sindall’s Northern Home Counties business was selected by MKUH to oversee the construction of the multi-million project, which will adjoin with the hospital Cancer Centre which opened in 2020. The project was procured via the Pagabo national framework for major construction works and it is expected to be completed by spring 2024.

The new facility will improve access to radiotherapy for patients who currently have to travel to other hospitals in the region to receive the specialist treatment. When complete, the radiotherapy centre will house two state-of-the-art medical linear accelerator (Linac) bunkers and will include a main reception, consultation rooms and a CT scanner area.

The specialised nature of the project presented several unique construction challenges, for which the team devised tailored solutions in line with its Intelligent Solutions approach to construction. This included the need to create 2.6m thick concrete walls to prevent radiation leakage from the onsite radiotherapy equipment. Due to the size of the walls and complexity of applying this quantity of concrete, a schedule of long pours has been designed so that the thickness will be achieved without compromising the quality of the concrete structure.

To guarantee a smooth building process, the team has also accounted for several logistical factors. This has included extensive material delivery preparations to avoid undue inconvenience to the hospital’s patients and staff. Materials will be brought through the rear of the building, bypassing the front of the hospital where the new unit will be located, as this is an important access point for the adjoining cancer centre, its drop off-point, car park and nearby energy facilities.

David Rowsell, Northern Home Counties area director at Morgan Sindall Construction, said: “We are incredibly proud to be continuing our long-standing relationship with Milton Keynes University Hospital, which is such an incredibly important part of the local community. Once complete, the capabilities of the hospital’s new radiotherapy centre will provide an exceptionally valuable medical asset for the area and its people for many years to come.

“The state-of-the-art nature of this facility means that the construction has to account for a lot of unique challenges. Thanks to the expertise of our team and our proven ability to deliver highly complex healthcare projects, we’ve created a plan that will meet the hospital’s operational demands without affecting the site’s vital day-to-day work.”

Professor Joe Harrison, Chief Executive at Milton Keynes University Hospital, said: “We are delighted to have started construction work on what will be a hugely significant facility for local people. Through developing radiotherapy services on-site, this will complete our cancer services offering, improving patient outcomes and the experience that they receive while at our hospital. We look forward to working closely with our partners across the region to bring this new centre to life for our patients.”

Sally Burnie, Head of Cancer Services at Milton Keynes University Hospital, said: “We are seeing some people having to make a hundred mile round-trip to access their radiotherapy treatment, and this can be for several weeks. To have this new centre for our patients and their families really is fantastic and having this service closer to home not only enhances their care but also drastically cuts travel and reduces their anxiety at a very difficult time.”