MORE than 100 patients, staff and volunteers at Worcestershire Royal Hospital gathered to celebrate the oncology centre's first anniversary.

The state-of-the art facility was officially opened in April 2015 by Princess Anne, and in its first year has treated 1,300 cancer patients.

Earlier this week, guests gathered to celebrate the centre's achievements so far and to consider what can be done in the future.

Michelle Price, radiotherapy services manager at the hospital, said: "It was a good opportunity to reflect back on everything. It is quite unusual for an NHS team to step back and look at what we have achieved and what we hope to achieve in the future.

"It has just been an amazing year, it is hard work but it has been worth it."

Guests were able to look around the centre, which delivers 95 per cent of radiotherapy treatments required by patients in Worcestershire.

This is a major improvement for patients who previously had to travel to Coventry, Cheltenham or Wolverhampton.

At the party, Mr Adel Makar, lead cancer clinician at Worcestershire Acute Trust, said: "The unit has seen 1,300 patients in first year with 1m patients' miles saved.

"Patients often travelled three hours per day, five days per week for periods of up to seven weeks – it wasn't good and needed to change and this unit has changed it."

The centre is now hoping to provide chemotherapy facilities in the future, and will built on its existing relationships with University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust.