A NEW vision for the creation of a state-of-the-art cancer treatment centre in Basingstoke has been unveiled.

Ark Cancer Centre Charity is raising £5million towards the planned centre, which will largely be funded by Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (HHFT) and will be built on land at Basingstoke hospital.

Ark Cancer Centre Charity trustee Merv Rees, who is a leading HHFT liver cancer surgeon and a driving force behind the cancer centre project, unveiled the first image of what the new centre could look like when he thanked 'Our Partner' supporters of the charity at an event held at The University of Winchester last week.

The new proposal could include a chemotherapy centre, support facilities, and a roof garden.

Mr Rees said: “Above all, I particularly want a place where cancer patients and their families feel welcomed and cared for.”

He added that it was also vital for staff to feel looked after too.

The new building is in the early planning stages and must still get formal approval, but Mr Rees hopes it will be a way forward following the disappointment of November 2017, when local Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) decided not to consult on plans for a new HHFT Critical Treatment Hospital and cancer treatment centre near to Junction 7 of the M3.

Mr Rees told the audience: “We started with a vision and that was to build something we could all be proud of, and where people would have a better deal.

“What is unique about the new centre is that within the environment of treating cancer, we would have all the supportive care.

“The best way I can summarise this is through the words of Jane Devonshire (MasterChef UK 2016 champion), who was one of our patients, and she put it succinctly one day when she said to me: ‘The thing is, your surgery was brilliant, but at the end of it all I was just a heap and I had to go to the Breast Cancer Haven centre to rebuild myself and rebuild my confidence’ – and look what she has done afterwards in winning MasterChef.

“So, this gives you some idea of what we are aiming for. Instead of leaving people in a heap, we actually want to give them the support they need in one place throughout their therapy – not just when they have fallen off a cliff.”

Mr Rees talked about the disappointment he felt when the CCGs turned down the previous proposal at Junction 7. However, Plan B to build the new cancer centre at Basingstoke hospital is still very much alive, he confirmed.

“We still have that idea of something full of inspiration and hope,” he said. “We do want it to be a place where people are inspired. I always wanted the entrance to be something special where you just walk in and think ‘wow’.”

Mr Rees told the audience that Ark Cancer Centre Charity, which recently passed the £2m fundraising milestone, would be funding the cost of creating a wellbeing centre in the existing Radiotherapy Unit at Basingstoke hospital – something he added that “would be happening imminently.”

At the thank-you reception, the renowned surgeon also urged everyone to get behind the Ark Day campaign, which will see events take place across Basingstoke and Deane in support of the fundraising drive on June 21.

Ark Cancer Centre Charity is hoping individuals, businesses, organisations and schools will sign up and commit to fundraising by going to the Ark Day website at arkday.co.uk.