Download Oxford Cancer Centre    Well the new Cancer Centre is very special, it has brought together for the very first 

Oxford Cancer Centre Well the new Cancer Centre is very special, it has brought together for the very first time in Oxford all the different methods for treating cancer, for investigating it, for diagnosing it. Whereas in the past patients and their families had to trail around Oxford and other hospitals, now they can come to one place for all their investigation and treatment. This has been very much a collaborative effort by all the different staff groups involved and who’ll be working within the building, the doctors and nurses, radiographers, managers and many other health professionals, have all come together over almost ten years now to plan, to negotiate and to build this great new cancer centre. Even right back at the beginning we took account of patient and carer views and they’ve been involved in many of the committees in designing this building. That has to be the overriding principle in all that we are doing is to try and make this as friendly and non‐frightening as possible for patients. I think anyone understands that going to the hospital for even minor things can be quite scary, finding your way around, going from building to building and hospital to hospital can be very intimidating and I think trying to get everything on one site and make it as easy as possible for patients is really important; and to provide a suitable environment, again which is non‐intimidating and as least like a hospital as possible is what we should be striving for. There’s lots of courtyard gardens, terraced gardens, to, I think they said, to ‘bring the outside into the hospital’ to make it seem a natural environment, and I’m sure that will be very helpful in the general atmosphere both for the patients and for the staff.