Dumfries Maggie's centre plans given green light
The Maggie's centre is set to be built next to Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary – more than a decade after a feasibility study was carried out.
NHS charity bosses said they were unable to fund the project last year due to financial constraints.
But an agreement between Maggie's, named after Dumfries native Maggie Keswick Jenks, and the local NHS board has now been reached.
It will see Maggie's take forward the plans on land rented by NHS Dumfries and Galloway under a "peppercorn lease" arrangement.
A timescale for the project has not yet been disclosed.
NHS charity bosses stall Maggie's centre plan for Dumfries
Maggie's Centre bid's slow progress 'baffling'
Maggie's chief executive, Dame Laura Lee, said the centre would be transformational for those living with cancer across the region.
She said many people currently had to travel to Glasgow or Edinburgh to access support, but that would now be brought closer to home.
"This centre has been in development for a long time, so it is wonderful to now be able to look forward to a time when people living with cancer have our expert support closer to them," she said.
"Of course, we also know that there's something special about having a centre here because we know how fondly our founder Maggie Keswick Jencks is remembered in her hometown."
About 1,200 cancer diagnoses are made in Dumfries and Galloway every year, the charity said.
Maggie Keswick Jenks was diagnosed with breast cancer when she was 47 and was told it had returned in 1993.
She died in 1995, but not before laying the groundwork for the creation of a support centre for people with cancer, and their families.
The first Maggie's centre was built at the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh the following year.
The charity now has eight centres operating across Scotland and others in the UK, Netherlands and Spain.
Initial plans for a centre in Dumfries were first assessed in 2014 and formally went before NHS Dumfries and Galloway in June 2018.
The health board was asked to put up £250,000 towards the £4m centre, but that failed to get off the ground.
In July last year, the health board – which is facing a £35m financial deficit – said it could not commit to an increased initial outlay of £1m and an ongoing £80,000 per year support package.
The board's endowment committee cited financial challenges and a Scottish government moratorium on new NHS building projects.
However, a rental agreement under a "peppercorn" contract has now been agreed.
That will see Maggie's charged a token sum for a long-term lease on the land.
The charity said it would fundraise to meet the capital and revenue needs of the centre, but added it did not know the amount required at this stage.
NHS Dumfries and Galloway chief executive, Julie White, said: "NHS Dumfries and Galloway is facing significant financial challenges, but this new Maggie's centre is set to be taken forward by the charity – with the NHS board providing the land where it will be constructed over the coming years.
"Although the centre will be constructed in Dumfries, Maggie's appreciate that we are a remote and rural area and are supportive of an approach serving the region in its entirety."
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