On a glorious afternoon, Angela Richardson MP was delighted to mark the ground-breaking of the new Alliance Medical PET-CT facility at Surrey Research Park. This is a technology and a building that will save lives in the future as it makes the detection and early treatment of cancer much easier and make it available to a far larger number of people.
The new centre brings together research and input from the Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust as well as the University of Surrey. Positron Emission Tomography (PET) uses the breakdown of radioactive elements to detect tumours and combining the technique with CT scanning allows medical staff to pinpoint their location in the body.
Angela said: "As I said in my short remarks to those gathered for the occasion, innovation is at the core of this government's plan to make the UK a science superpower. This new facility will make the people who live in Guildford and its surroundings today healthier and ultimately widen the benefits to people across the country.
"It is my great privilege to be the Member of Parliament for an area that is in so many ways at the forefront of scientific – and particularly bio-scientific – research and innovation. The work being done is changing the world; and changing lives."