Swindon Radiotherapy Centre

Ajaz Shafi, COO, Sisk interview

The OUH Swindon Radiotherapy Centre is all about providing patients and their families a service closer to home

OUH (Oxford University Hospitals) Swindon Radiotherapy Centre at the Great Western Hospital site will save over 13,000 journeys to Oxford for treatment every year.

The OUH Swindon Radiotherapy Centre is an expansion of Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust’s radiotherapy service.

At the peak of construction Sisk had 60 operatives on site and the project was complete in 2022. Funding for the project came from Oxford University Hospitals (£18.4m) combined with £2.9m which was donated by local people.

Dr Claire Hobbs, former Head of Radiotherapy @ Swindon

Bunker structure

Sacrificial concrete floors were complete and the pits formed for the linacs and in total, 1,716 cubic metres of concrete were poured. In non-construction terms, the volume equates to about two-thirds of an Olympic-sized swimming pool and the weight is around 320 double-decker buses!

Bunker structure

“The opening of the centre should substantially improve patient access and experience and ensure excessive travel isn’t a reason for patients declining radiotherapy. It has been brilliant to have been involved with the set up and to have seen it go from a building site to an operating radiotherapy department.”

Jo Watts

Swindon Radiotherapy Operational Manager, Oxford University Hospitals

Bringing radiotherapy to Swindon has been a long-standing priority for the local NHS

Jo Watts, Radiotherapy Operational Manager @Swindon

This new centre houses two state-of-the-art linear accelerators which are mostly used for external beam radiotherapy

Local investment

OUH has invested £18.4 million in this project and local people donated £2.9 million towards the specialist equipment needed to provide radiotherapy in Swindon, through the Brighter Futures’ Radiotherapy Appeal.