Delayed cancer centre now open

New equipment at Oxford's cancer centre

A long-awaited multi-million pound cancer centre in Oxford will start taking its first patients on Monday.

The building at the Churchill Hospital site brings operating theatres, radiology and physiotherapy departments under one roof.

The Cancer and Haematology centre was due to open in summer 2008 but was held-up by a row over a footpath and over-running technical work.

Project manager Pauline Bagnall said she was delighted with the new centre.

"They'll come in to a building which doesn't feel like a hospital. It looks beautiful," she said.

"It's been frustrating but our aim has always been to have a building which is clinically correct for our patients."

The cancer centre includes ten theatres, new equipment as well as courtyards, terraces and art displays.