Construction is complete and an opening date is confirmed for Macclesfield's The Christie.

East Cheshire cancer care will be provided under one roof, and 45 minute drives to Manchester will be no longer for Macclesfield cancer patients, nor will having cancer services inside Macclesfield District General Hospital.

After 18 years of providing cancer support to the population of East Cheshire, the services currently provided at the Macmillan Cancer Resource Centre within Macclesfield Hospital will be delivered from the new Christie at Macclesfield cancer centre from next month.

The opening date will be the morning of Monday December 13th.

Sadly, Macclesfield Nub News cannot attend due to biosecurity reasons, and the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

However, it is clear to see the valuable community resource, and the benefits it will bring.

Our town is so lucky to have the new multi-million pound centre in the heart of Macc.

Patients, family members and carers will continue to have access to specialist nurses who will shortly be based in the new state of the art cancer centre within The Christie.

The site cost £26 million, with £23 million being from public donations, for which you can still donate here.

Janet Parkinson, Macmillan Support and Information Manager said, "The opening of the new Christie centre will transform the way our local population access care, treatment and support closer to home and we are delighted to be part of this exciting journey.

"We would like to reassure our service users that the team will continue to support and care for patients and families as they always have done."

All Macclesfield The Christie patients have access to a 24-hour nurse-led telephone service (0161 446 3658) available to patients, carers and healthcare professionals for advice or management on the side effects and complications of cancer treatments.

There is also the Macmillan Support Line still available for anyone in our community who is affected by cancer.

Their seven days a week number is 0808 808 0000.

John Hunter, Medical Director at East Cheshire NHS Trust said, "The Macmillan Centre has played a huge part in the successful delivery of cancer care within East Cheshire since 2003 and we'd like to acknowledge the incredible dedication and commitment of the team over the years."

It won't be only Macclesfield patients that benefit. High Peak, Staffordshire and other Cheshire East residents will benefit from the futuristic-looking cancer treatment centre.

It is a remarkable achievement from the constructors, as the project, which was approved in 2019, suffered numerous setbacks in 2020 from the coronavirus pandemic.

The project has remained on time, and no indications have been given that the Macclesfield project went over budget.

Bernie Delahoyde, Chief Operating Officer at The Christie added, "The Christie at Macclesfield will transform cancer care in East Cheshire, providing care closer to home for more than 1,500 patients a year.

"We will bring together essential cancer services into one purpose-built centre delivering local specialist access to radiotherapy, chemotherapy, haematology, holistic support and information services, outpatient care, palliative care and a wider range of clinical trials than at present.

"The Christie at Macclesfield will accommodate 46,000 patient visits per year including 12,500 radiotherapy treatments and around 6,800 chemotherapy and haematology treatments.

"We are delighted to be welcoming many highly talented and professional cancer specialists who are transferring from East Cheshire NHS Trust to The Christie when we open on 13th December 2021."

All existing East Cheshire patients will be able to access a comprehensive cancer service at The Christie at Macclesfield, which will encompass oncology, chemotherapy, radiotherapy haematology and ongoing support.

One in three of us will get cancer.

Half of Brits diagnosed with cancer will survive for at least ten years or more.

It has more than doubled in the last half-century.

Cancer survival is higher than in women than men.

Once again, you can donate to The Christie NHS, who will run the new Macclesfield site, by clicking this link.

You can see more construction photos by constructors McCrory Holdings here.

See also: Macclesfield A&E departments 'extremely busy' with no sign of slowing down.

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