A major new hospital that will transform cancer care in a region that is one of the worst affected nationally by the disease has opened in the heart of Liverpool.



The 11-storey Clatterbridge Cancer Centre – Liverpool (CCC-L) will deliver highly-specialist care including pioneering immunotherapy and the most advanced forms of radiotherapy to the 2.4 million people in Cheshire and Merseyside, and those in surrounding areas.



The spectacular new hospital is part of a £162m investment in expanding and transforming cancer services across Cheshire and Merseyside, a region where people are more likely to develop the disease than almost anywhere else in the country.



This expansion of services will ensure the NHS is well placed to meet the rising incidence of cancer as people live longer. In the immediate term, it will also support the NHS to resume normal clinical activity post-COVID-19 by providing protected facilities for people with cancer – many of whom are particularly at risk if they catch the virus – as well as releasing capacity in other hospitals in the region.



The new hospital brings pioneering cancer treatment closer to communities that are among the most disadvantaged and most at risk of developing the disease during their lifetime. It means significantly shorter journey times for the majority of patients, including those from Knowsley which has the second highest incidence of cancer in England. At a regional level, cancer incidence in Cheshire and Merseyside is the third highest in England while deaths from cancer are 76 per cent above the European average.



The opening of Clatterbridge Cancer Centre – Liverpool is the culmination of plans that have been eight years in the making. Until now, Cheshire and Merseyside’s main cancer centre has been located at its southernmost point on a site with no acute medical and surgical specialties, and that is also some distance away from key research partners.



The new hospital in Liverpool is centrally located for people across Cheshire & Merseyside, significantly reducing journey times for the 65 per cent of patients who live north of the Mersey.



Sitting in the heart of Liverpool’s thriving Knowledge Quarter – on a site adjacent to Royal Liverpool University Hospital and the University of Liverpool – it will also will ensure the most complex and unwell patients benefit from rapid on-site access to key medical and surgical specialties. This is important because many people with cancer are also living with other serious health conditions such as heart, lung or kidney disease.



Bringing cancer experts from the NHS and the University of Liverpool together on the same site will also significantly enhance opportunities for leading-edge cancer research, including early-phase clinical trials of new treatments.



Clatterbridge Cancer Centre – Liverpool will deliver a wide range of highly-specialist cancer care including pioneering chemotherapy, immunotherapy, gene therapy and radiotherapy. The new hospital has state-of-the-art facilities for diagnostics and imaging, outpatients, daycase treatments, bone marrow transplant, a Teenage & Young Adult Unit, clinical therapies, and a wide range of cancer information and support.



Its 110 fully-single en-suite bedrooms will provide inpatients with total privacy as well as reducing any risk of infections. This is especially relevant during the pandemic because people with cancer can be at greater risk of becoming extremely unwell from COVID-19. The hospital also has special isolation facilities for patients whose immune systems mean they are particularly vulnerable to infection. The inpatient blood cancer unit and dedicated Teenage & Young Adult Unit will open later this year. Teenagers and young adults will be treated on the daycase ward until then.



The building has been specially designed to enhance wellbeing, healing and recovery through a close connection to nature and a sense of light and space, despite its city-centre location. There is a Winter Garden on the lowest floor, adjacent to the Radiotherapy department. The inpatient wards and Chemotherapy suite boast spectacular views across the city and across to the Wirral peninsula, with outdoor terraces where patients can enjoy fresh air. Artwork will further bring the outside in, by using tree and plant motifs on every floor.



The development of Liverpool’s first specialist cancer hospital is part of a £162m investment that also includes significant upgrades and refurbishment at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre’s Wirral site. The new hospital has achieved a BREEAM Excellent rating for sustainability. It was designed by leading global architects, BDP, who also designed Alder Hey Children’s Hospital. The main contractor was Laing O’Rourke and the building was design engineered by AECOM.



Clatterbridge Cancer Centre – Liverpool now becomes the main hub in The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust’s extensive network of services across Cheshire and Merseyside, which includes its existing cancer centres in Wirral and Aintree, its clinics in hospitals across the region, and its team of specialist nurses who treat patients while they’re at home or work. The Wirral cancer centre will continue to be the main treatment site for most patients living in Wirral, West Cheshire and surrounding areas.