WORK has started on a new £550,000 chemotherapy and breast care unit at a hospital.

The facilities at Burnley General Teaching Hospital will both be located in area three next to the existing breast screening service.

They will aim to provide larger, more modern facilities for women being treated for breast cancer and patients receiving chemotherapy for all cancers.

The chemotherapy area will feature seven treatment rooms, a 16-chair observation lounge, sensory room, quiet room plus reception and waiting room.

Visitors to the new breast care area will benefit from a counselling room, six consultation/examination rooms and treatment room.

The new chemotherapy unit was partially paid for by £100,000 in public donations following a fundraising campaign by Rosemere Cancer Foundation.

David O’Brien, acting business manager for cancer services at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “We already have a very good chemotherapy treatment centre at Burnley but our concern was that it was too small to meet demand as there was no room for expansion.”

Kevin McGee, chief executive at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “The new chemotherapy and breast care units at Burnley General Teaching Hospital will build on the trust’s excellent reputation for cancer treatment, as well as speeding up diagnosis and reducing the number of hospital visits’ patients need to make.

“Swift diagnosis and treatment help reduce the anxiety experienced by patients and the devastating impact that cancer can have on individuals and families.”

If work goes to schedule the new chemotherapy and breast care unit, part of a planned £18.1 million investment in facilities at the hospital, will welcome its first patients before the end of the year.

Also included in the plan is a new £15.6 m three-storey healthcare facility, which will include new outpatients, ophthalmology and maxillofacial departments including two new theatres.

Plans to demolish existing redundant buildings at the hospital and build the new facility have recently been approved by Burnley Borough Council.