Prime minister praises hospital

Mr Brown visited the hospital during a tour of the north west

The prime minister has praised The Christie cancer hospital in Manchester during an impromptu visit.

The hospital, in Withington, recently recouped a £6.5m loss after the collapse of Icelandic bank Kaupthing Singer and Friedlander (KSF) in 2008.

Gordon Brown said the government's decision to return the hospital's lost money through the NHS strategic health authority was the right one.

Mr Brown described The Christie as a "special cause".

Surgical robot

The prime minister said: "There is still action against the Icelandic authorities, but the money is now there for The Christie to move forward and I've seen today the brilliant work that this group does.

"And I have seen the spirit of the patients. Christie's is a worldwide name, some of its services are leading the world of medicine."

Mr Brown saw a demonstration of a £1.28m surgical robot used for treating prostate cancer, which is the only one in the north west and one of only seven in the UK.

The prime minister met David Roughley, the first person to be operated on by the robot, in March last year.

Mr Brown also visited the radiotherapy centre and met breast cancer patient Rita Orriss, 59, a nurse from Oldham.

The hospital is in the process of building a radiotherapy centre at the Royal Oldham Hospital, scheduled to open next year.

The Christie has an annual budget of £153m and treats more than 40,000 patients.