Tilbury Douglas is delivering a new £14m PET-CT facility at Singleton Hospital in Swansea, which is expected to expand the range and capacity of nuclear medicine services available to patients in South West Wales.
Nearly 70 nuclear medicine professionals from around the world visited the development during the British Nuclear Medicine Society’s Autumn Meeting, held in Swansea on 24 and 25 September.
The facility is being built by Tilbury Douglas for Swansea Bay University Health Board at the South West Wales Cancer Centre at Singleton Hospital.
It will house a PET-CT scanner, combining computed tomography (CT) with positron emission tomography (PET) to produce detailed images that can identify cancer and other diseases that may not be visible through other types of scanning.
“Welcoming specialists from across the world was an important opportunity to share knowledge and demonstrate the progress being made at Singleton Hospital,” said Chris Edmonds, Regional Director of Wales at Tilbury Douglas.
Swansea Bay University Health Board’s Head of Nuclear Medicine, Professor Neil Hartman, said the new facility would enable the health board to introduce several services that are not currently available.
What is so unique about the facility being constructed?
For the first time in South West Wales, a permanent PET-CT facility will be provided that will allow for paediatric PET scanning, scanning under general anaesthetic and brain scanning.
The facility will also have the capacity to provide scanning across five full extended days each week, increasing flexibility and access to the service.
The international delegates visiting the project were able to see the facility as construction progresses and discuss the requirements involved in developing a building for advanced nuclear medicine services.
The visit formed part of the British Nuclear Medicine Society’s annual meeting, which brought together specialists in nuclear medicine from across the UK and internationally.
Capital funding for the development has been provided by the Welsh Government through its all-Wales PET-CT programme.
The first patients are expected to be scanned at the new facility in early 2027.
