Radiotherapy treatment is to be provided at East Surrey Hospital in Redhill thanks to a £10 million development.

The Royal Surrey County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust, which runs the East Surrey Hospital, has agreed to a partnership siting a radiotherapy facility there.

The development will mean that patients from East Surrey currently travelling to Guildford for radiotherapy will be able to receive treatment much closer to home.

Plans for the facility are now with Reigate and Banstead Borough Council for consideration. Dr Marianne Illsley, lead cancer clinician for the Royal Surrey County Hospital, said: “This development will place two state-of-the-art radiotherapy linear accelerators (Linacs) at East Surrey Hospital, and will transform the radiotherapy service and patient experience for people living in the Redhill, Reigate, Crawley and Horsham areas.”

Dr Illsley said: “Around 30% of the patients we treat at the St Luke’s Cancer Centre in Guildford are from East Surrey and North-east West Sussex, and will now be able to benefit from the most advanced radiotherapy techniques on their doorstep.

“The unit will also include a Computerised Axial Tomography (CT) scanner for radiotherapy treatment planning.

“This means that most patients will no longer need to travel to Guildford for any stage of the planning or treatment phases of radiotherapy.”

The radiotherapy unit is expected to be open by the end of next year, and work is now underway between the two Trusts to move ahead with the development.

Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust chief executive Michael Wilson, said: “This is good news for patients living in Surrey and Sussex as it will provide care closer to home.

“It is also an example of how by working in partnership with other hospitals we are securing the future of hospital services on this site.”

He said: “The radiotherapy team from St Luke’s Cancer Centre at the Royal Surrey have an excellent reputation and will provide a range of treatments from the new unit.”

Royal Surrey County Hospital chief executive Nick Moberly, said: “This is a very exciting project, which will have benefits for a large number of patients, and also the two hospital Trusts.

“It will help to cement our existing clinical partnerships and we are looking forward to working closely with Surrey and Sussex Healthcare to develop this new facility for patients.”

       Radiotherapy sees high energy x-rays and similar rays, such as electrons, used to treat disease.  . The amount of radiation is carefully controlled and is delivered externally via a machine called a Linear Accelerator.  Radiotherapy is often delivered in several small doses over a specified period of days or weeks, but may be given in a single dose.  Radiotherapy is used to treat many cancers and around four out of ten patients receive it as part of their treatment.    The Royal Surrey County Hospital is a leading general hospital and specialist centre for cancer services and treatment, based in Guildford.