Medical innovation in the UK was given a significant boost today with the announcement that an advanced diagnostics centre is to be built in Liverpool.
Rutherford Diagnostics, a wholly owned subsidiary of Proton Partners International, announced that the new centre will be situated in Knowledge Quarter Liverpool (KQ Liverpool) within Liverpool City Council’s £1bn Paddington Village development.
The five-storey building, to be built by the council’s appointed contractor Morgan Sindall, will be positioned opposite the Royal College of Physicians’ new Northern headquarters, ‘The Spine’, and will be directly adjacent to the Rutherford Cancer Centre North West, which will be one of a network of Rutherford centres offering high energy proton beam therapy to cancer patients.
Mike Moran, chief executive of Proton Partners International, said: “We are delighted to bring medical innovation to Liverpool and the North West, with the provision of proton beam therapy treatment which will greatly benefit many cancer patients. I am equally as proud to announce that Liverpool – my home city – will be the site of the Rutherford Diagnostics headquarters.
“This centre aspires to be a leader in the prediction, prevention and earliest possible detection of disease, as well as being equipped to conduct the most complex of diagnostic tests across a wide range of conditions. The centre will be in a position to furnish health care providers with the most advanced diagnostic data.”
Mr Moran made today’s announcement at the MIPIM UK conference in London, the leading property summit for all key stakeholders in the UK. Rutherford Diagnostics will work alongside both private healthcare organisations and individual NHS foundation trusts.
Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson said: “I’m delighted this diagnostics centre is to be based in Paddington Village, it’s a huge boost for our plans to create a world leading medical research and innovation hub in the heart of the city’s Knowledge Quarter. Paddington Village is gaining real momentum now with renowned tenants like Proton Partners International, the RCP and Kaplan investing in the city and creating highly skilled jobs – and the great news is that there is much more to come.”
Aidan Kehoe, CEO of the Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “It is really exciting that Rutherford Diagnostics is building a medical diagnostic centre in Paddington Village. It is our unique type of public-private partnership that will be critical in enabling Liverpool’s Knowledge Quarter to become a centre of excellence in the provision of health and cancer care. Our vision has always been to develop the Liverpool Biocampus to attract pioneering academics, clinicians and businesses that will ultimately benefit the people of Liverpool through improved health outcomes and economic growth in the city.”
Colin Sinclair, CEO of KQ Liverpool, said: “Liverpool is at the forefront of innovation in health and science and the Rutherford Diagnostics Centre will be in great company at the heart of KQ Liverpool on Paddington Village, next to the RCP’s new home, The Spine, and close to the Universities and the new Royal and Clatterbridge Hospitals.”
The core technologies Rutherford Diagnostics will provide include CT, PET-CT, MR, ultrasound, endoscopy, genomics and personalised screening.
Proton Partners International, which is developing Rutherford Diagnostics, also runs the Rutherford Cancer Centres, which are at the forefront of providing innovative cancer care and creating a better future for cancer patients throughout the UK. Rutherford centres at Newport, South Wales, Northumberland and Reading are equipped to offer an all-encompassing cancer service, delivering class-leading imaging, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and proton beam therapy treatment. For more information, please visit www.therutherford.co.uk