Mace to project manage first UK high energy cancer unit
Consulting firm Mace has been selected by The Christie NHS Foundation Trust to project manage the delivery of the first high energy cancer unit, the Proton Beam Therapy project, in Manchester. The new centre, which costs around £125 million, will be built on The Christie premises and will be open for treatment in 2018.
The Christie NHS Foundation Trust is one of the leading cancer centres in Europe, exclusively focussed on the treatment of cancer, treating approximately 44,000 patients a year. The centre that is based in Manchester serves a population of 3.2 million across Greater Manchester & Cheshire, as well as patients from other parts of the country that referred to the centre.
In 2010, the NHS and the Department of Health selected The Christie NHS Foundation Trust to deliver the first high energy Proton Beam Therapy (PBT)* service in the UK. The Manchester PBT Centre will be built on The Christie NHS hospital site, for which the Manchester City Council approved the planning permission in early September 2014. The new facility will consist of a five story building with three gantries for treatment of patients plus a fourth bunker for research purposes. In addition, there will be associated imaging facilities and outpatient accommodation. The main construction of the building is expected to commence in August 2015, with patients to be treated in 2018.
To assist in the project, The Christie NHS Foundation Trust has appointed consulting firm Mace to project manage the delivery of the £125 million PBT Project in Manchester. “The Christie has worked with Mace on previous projects as well as over the last year on the Proton project. We have always been pleased at their ability to develop productive partnerships with the contractor, the Trust and other members of the Trust team in order to drive effective management of the project,” explains Phil Turner, Project Manager for The Christie NHS Foundation Trust.
“This is a great achievement for the Manchester team. We have been working with The Christie as a key client on this project for a significant length of time, and it was hard to avoid the assumption that we would just be given the future work during the tender period,” adds Jonathan Tucker, Operations Director for Health Estates at Mace. “This win provides a major stepping stone on the expansion of the health team in the north.”
* PBT is the latest cancer treatment using protons instead of X-rays, as a result of which radiation can be delivered more precisely to tumours and non-cancerous neighbouring tissues can be spared.
