The St George community will soon see a doubling in capacity of some cancer services, thanks to the $5 million redevelopment of the St George Hospital Cancer Care Centre.

NSW Minister for Health Brad Hazzard, joined by Member for Oatley Mark Coure, toured the facility today as the final stage of works for the expansion of the Haematology Oncology Day Centre and Outpatient Clinic kicked off.

“The St George community will have world-class cancer services conveniently located right on the grounds of the St George Hospital,” Mr Coure said.

“This project is a wonderful example of the NSW Government working together with the Cancer Care Foundation to achieve an extremely positive outcome for our local community.

“The Foundation, with community support, has raised about $16 million over the past 22 years which has significantly contributed to the ongoing development of the Cancer Care Centre,” he said.

The Centre comes after a $277 million redevelopment of St George Hospital, opened late last year, on top of a $43 million new emergency department opened in 2014.

Mr Hazzard said the NSW Government contributed $1.5 million to the redevelopment of the Cancer Care Centre.

“This magnificent upgrade will go a long way towards boosting clinical care for patients undergoing cancer treatment at St George Hospital, which already has a well-deserved reputation for clinical excellence,” Mr Hazzard said.

The Haematology Oncology Day Centre is being expanded to 18 treatment chairs and three single rooms, doubling its current capacity.

The Outpatient Clinic will expand from nine to 16 consulting rooms. In addition, there will be three purpose-built review spaces, taking the number of outpatient clinic spaces to 19.

The redevelopment of the Cancer Care Centre will also include an atrium entry connecting the clinical trials research laboratories and cancer specialists in the Pitney Building of St George Hospital with the Centre.

The Cancer Care Centre is due for completion in December 2018.