Multi-million pound cancer facility in Dumfries and Galloway gets support of health board boss

19.12.2022 - 11:27 / dailyrecord.co.uk

Pressing ahead with plans for a multi-million pound cancer facility in the region should be a priority according to the health board’s top man.

Jeff Ace, chief executive of NHS Dumfries and Galloway, this week threw his support behind a joint project with Maggie’s to deliver a specialised cancer care facility.

And while all health board members were supportive of the idea, some have reservations about whether or not the struggling health service has the capacity to make such a big project a reality.

At Monday’s health board meeting, non-executive members Greg Black and Laura Douglas both shared concerns about already-overstretched NHS staff taking on this project on top of the day job and not having the resources to deliver.

Mr Ace responded: “We can do this project. It will mean that other things are de-prioritised and will take longer.

“That’s what I guess we can look at through our tactical priorities paper for next year to make sure people are comfortable with that.

“But we can certainly undertake this business case with Maggie’s support.”

He added: “This is potentially a really good development for us as a board. It’s a really important step in our ability to give holistic support to people experiencing cancer.

“I think we should take those steps with Maggie’s to produce the business case.

“If we hit capacity problems, we come back to the board to say, ‘this is now what we’re going to have to sacrifice’ to continue the Maggie’s work.”

Board members agreed to proceed with developing a business case for the establishment of a Maggie’s Centre and associated outreach services in the region.

The meeting heard that there was widespread support in the community for such a service.

Members were also told that