The new Rutherford Cancer Centre North West has opened in Liverpool

Rutherford has announced that it has commenced treating patients at the new Rutherford Cancer Centre North West, in Liverpool.

The centre has been approved by the Care Quality Commission to initially offer patients Systemic Anti-Cancer Therapy (SACT) services which includes chemotherapy, immunotherapy, targeted therapies symptom control, blood tests, oncology nurse consultation and supportive therapies.

The centre will also offer MRI diagnostic services. The facility in the Knowledge Quarter in Paddington Village will eventually offer comprehensive cancer services with plans to expand services later this year to include radiotherapy, MR Linac, mammography and ultrasound with high energy proton beam therapy coming online early next year.

The Liverpool centre will be the first in the UK to use an MR Linac machine, which combines an MRI scanner and a linear accelerator, manufactured by Elekta.

This delivers targeted radiotherapy that can treat hard to reach tumours. The centre is the fourth in the Rutherford network of centres.

Mike Moran, CEO of Rutherford Health, said:

“As a son of Liverpool, I am very proud that we are now in a position to start treating cancer patients in the city and the North West. The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on cancer care services across the UK and we believe that this centre will be an important development in the fight against cancer.

“The centre is the latest in our state-of-the-art network of Rutherford Cancer Centres. We are delighted with the role that we continue to play in advancing cancer care in the UK especially when it comes to precision radiotherapy.

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“Our goal is to ensure cancer patients throughout the UK can easily access the most advanced treatments without having to travel long distances or even abroad.”

Services at the Rutherford Cancer Centre North West will be accessible to private patients under medical insurance, self-pay patients and to NHS patients where NHS contracts are in place.