A groundbreaking cancer treatment is launching at Great Western Hospital on Friday, March 13.

GWH will be the first NHS hospital in the south west to provide the intra-operative radiotherapy to those with breast cancer.

The service comes following a public campaign to raise around £110,000.

Nathan Coombs, Consultant Breast Surgeon, said: “This is a fantastic moment in the history of GWH and I am incredibly proud to have been part of the team involved in brining intra-operative radiotherapy to Swindon."

Jennifer Green, the hospital’s head of fundraising, thanked everyone who helped raise the money to fund the new treatment.

She said: “It costs £150,000 to offer this treatment for one year. We originally set out to raise £75,000, with the other £75,000 being provided upfront by Brighter Futures.

“The people of Swindon and Wiltshire smashed the target and, at the last count, we had raised around £110,000. This is fantastic as it means that more of the cost is covered by the community contribution and that Brighter Futures can invest more funds into other worthy projects.”