Health managers have been handed the keys to the new £109m cancer centre at Oxford’s Churchill Hospital.

The new centre will bring all Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals’ cancer services together under one roof, and is due to open on Monday, March 16.

The buildings will feature the cancer and haematology centre, surgery and diagnostics facilities and the Wytham Wing for private patients.

The centre, handed over yesterday to the trust by Private Finance Initiative partners Ochre Solutions Ltd, will include 183 beds and 10 new operating theatres. Extra equipment has been made possible through a £2m fundraising campaign, including computerised integrated theatres, which enable surgeons to carry out complex keyhole surgery.

Former England rugby star Lawrence Dallaglio was among the fundraisers who helped with the effort.

Vickie Holcroft, director of relocation for Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals, said: “A project of this scale takes years of planning and organisation, and I thank all the hard-working staff for their dedication and enthusiasm throughout.

“The new centre and associated buildings will further enhance Oxford’s reputation as a centre of excellence for its cancer care, and we hope that our patients and visitors will be as pleased as we are with their new hospital.”

The relocation of services into the new buildings in Headington will begin on March 12, with the doors open to some patients from March 16.

The programme to relocate services will take about three weeks, with the building fully operational by the beginning of April.

Roberto Strigi, project director for the Churchill Construction Consortium, who handed over the keys to Ms Holcroft, said: “The architects wanted to make patients feel as comfortable as possible by including big open spaces, courtyards and green areas.”

The hospital’s American Garden, which was opened in 1992, has beenmoved to the front of the cancer centre, and the £2m fundraising campaign has paid for other outdoor terraces and gardens.

Ms Holcroft said a right of way issue featuring two pathways which run across the Churchill Hospital site was still not “fully sorted out”.

She said the issue had now been passed to Whitehall for a decision, but added: “Services to cancer patients were not affected in any way by the pathways issue.”

Jacquie Pearce-Gervis, a spokesman for the ORH’s Patient Focus Group, said: “This is good news for patients, despite the slight delay in opening, and means patients will now be able to stay in for treatment instead of travelling in each day.”

andrew.ffrench@oxfordmail.co.uk