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Dyson Cancer Centre opens its doors to patients, following a £4m donation from the James Dyson Foundation
22 April 2024
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On Monday 22nd April 2024, the Dyson Cancer Centre at the NHS Royal United Hospitals (RUH) in Bath welcomes its first patients. The three-storey Centre provides cancer services and treatment to more than half a million people in the Southwest of England, diagnosing 2,200 new cancer patients each year. The Centre has been designed to bring the outside, natural world, into the hospital environment, using textures, tones and colours in a variety of materials, like wood, to create a relaxing and welcoming surrounding.
The James Dyson Foundation has a long-standing relationship with the RUH and gave £4million towards the new Cancer Centre. The donation follows the success of the Dyson Neonatal Centre, opening at the RUH in 2011, which the Foundation supported with funding, design work and research. The Neonatal Centre’s considered design and cutting-edge architecture was proven to improve the wellbeing of babies and staff, and a similar approach was taken when designing the new Cancer Centre.
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Figure 1 Dyson Cancer Centre Atrium. Credit William Beck.
After visiting the Dyson Cancer Centre, James Dyson, Founder and Chief Engineer, said:
“Both of my parents died far too young from cancer, so I’ve always tried to support causes that involve treating or researching this terrible disease.
Bath and the South West desperately needed a new cancer hospital to serve 500,000 people and carry out cutting-edge research – and I was pleased we could continue helping the RUH, after the success of the Dyson Centre for Neonatal Care.
The Dyson Cancer Centre has state-of-the-art equipment, such as CT gamma scanners, which allow patients to have two specialist scans at the same time. It will also be home to vital research programmes in nuclear medicine and medical physics, and more than 60 live clinical trials – all under one roof.
In a way, I hope no one has to come to it. But if they do, I hope the Dyson Cancer Centre will be an uplifting place – one filled with light, art, space and views of nature – for patients and their families, as well as the hospital staff who care for them.”
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Clinical trials and new research labs
For the first time, all non-surgical cancer departments will work together under one roof, including research programmes across nuclear medicine, medical physics and more than 60 live clinical trials. New, on-site lab spaces allow multi-disciplinary teams to work together to design, conduct and analyse cancer trials and other research projects, and give suitable patients the most up-to-date drug therapies and access to world class research, working alongside doctors and specialist cancer nurses in the same building. They also collaborate with the University of Bath, other cancer research centres and charities to develop new research that will generate better future treatments.
Figure 2 Dyson Cancer Centre Atrium. Credit William Beck.
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Figures 3 and 4 Dyson Cancer Centre. Credit William Beck.
Reshmi Ravi, Matron for Outpatients at the RUH, said:
“Patients going through a cancer journey, at every point of it, are under an extreme amount of anxiety and stress. The Dyson Cancer Centre is going to make a huge, positive impact on patient morale and experience, and also positively support the care we provide. There is so much light, so much artwork – once you enter the Centre you are in a space that calms you down.”
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A calming environment
Artwork
More than 100 pieces of artwork, themed on nature, are displayed throughout the building, including a swifts sculpture, floor to ceiling installations and a woodland ambient room, commissioned especially for the Centre. Many have been created by local artists, including a painting by Deirdre Dyson (pictured right), called Bulrushes, that hangs in the main Atrium, and transform the atmosphere of a clinical setting.
Natural light and space
Increased breakout areas throughout the Centre allow for private conversations and space for reflection, and wards and patient areas, such as the chemotherapy suite, have been transformed to let in as much natural light as possible, with large windows overlooking the surrounding countryside and internal courtyards with bed access. There is a plan for the ‘Green Heart’, a large courtyard garden curated to reflect Bath’s flora and fauna, and both patients and staff will have access to use it.
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Andrew Hollowood, Deputy CEO and Medical Director at the RUH, said:
“The Dyson Cancer Centre is a state-of-the-art building, designed by patients and medical staff, to enhance the care we can offer to the 500,000 people we serve in the surrounding counties of Bath. What has been developed in combination with the James Dyson Foundation builds on our long-standing, 14-year relationship. Once the Dyson Neonatal Centre was up and running, and we saw the great impact of its unique layout and pioneering design, we started to think about how we could bring this format to life for cancer care. With Sir James and Lady Deirdre Dyson as our patrons, we are proud to welcome our first patients to the Dyson Cancer Centre.”
Dyson Neonatal Centre
The James Dyson Foundation’s support of the Dyson Cancer Centre follows the positive impact of the Dyson Neonatal Centre at the RUH. The Dyson Neonatal Centre opened in July 2011 with the aim of creating a calmer environment for babies, parents and staff through intelligent design and considered architecture. It leads the way in improving quality of life for sick and premature babies and cares for 500 babies each year. Its progressive layout, large windows, use of wood, and better location of the staff base and medical equipment, creates a calmer, more domestic environment which positively impacts patients and staff when compared to the old unit, as research demonstrated when the Neonatal Centre opened.
- Babies on the new unit slept for 22% longer than the old unit, tracked using accelerometers.
- Infrared technology showed that nurses spent 20% more time in clinical rooms caring for babies.
- Lux meters revealed 50% more natural light was measured in the new building, vital for circadian rhythm development.
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Figure 5 Dyson Centre for Neonatal Care. Credit James Dyson Foundation.
