Vital chemotherapy unit to return to Redditch by end of next month

Back in 2020, the Alexandra Hospital’s Garden Suite chemotherapy unit was temporarily transferred to Kidderminster Hospital in response to the Covid outbreak.

In March 2021, Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust publicly said they may look at making the move permanent forcing Redditch patients to indefinitely travel to Kidderminster for their cancer treatment.

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Redditch MP Rachel Maclean launched a petition calling for the Garden Suite to be returned to the Alex which gained more than 8,000 signatures.

Last year the MP assured that preparations were underway to bring the vital suite back to Redditch but was told by the trust that it would not return until early 2024.

However, nearly three years after the Garden Suite was temporarily relocated, it has been confirmed the facility will be back open to patients at the Alex by the end of February.

Rachel Maclean. (Image: Rachel Maclean.)

In welcoming this announcement, Rachel Maclean said: “It’s frustrating it took so long to get to this point, but I’m so pleased we finally know when the Garden Suite will be returned to the Alex where it belongs.

“I said I would do everything I could to get local health bosses to return this service to our hospital before 2024, and I’ve delivered on that promise.

“Today I’m thinking of my constituents who will no longer have to travel to Kidderminster for their chemotherapy. They are why I fought to get this service back."

Kidderminster Hospital. (Image: Newsquest.)

The Garden Suite is to get a new home at the Alex following the refurbishment of the hospital’s Ward 1, which is currently used as a discharge lounge for patients who are waiting to go home following an inpatient stay.

Building and decorating work at the Alex is now underway and once completed, around three-quarters of Ward 1 will reopen as the Garden Suite with the remaining area being used as a redesigned Discharge Lounge.

Chemotherapy services will also continue to be provided at Kidderminster and Worcestershire Royal Hospitals.

The Garden Suite chemotherapy unit at Kidderminster Hospital.

Matthew Hopkins, Chief Executive of Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust said: “We always said the Garden Suite move to Kidderminster was a temporary one, and that as soon as we could identify a suitable location, we would bring it back to the Alexandra.

“We have already completed, or are working on, a number of major developments and service improvements at the Alexandra, including the introduction of robotic surgery and construction of two new operating theatres.  

“This meant that we did not expect to be able to find a suitable location for Garden Suite for several months yet. 

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“However, thanks to a great deal of hard work by our clinical and estates teams, we have been able to draw up – at very short notice – a plan that will enable us to move Garden Suite into Ward 1 at the Alexandra and we hope the new unit will be open to patients by the end of February.”

Patients whose future appointments will be at the Garden Suite will be contacted directly.