CANCER patients are to be treated in style with the opening of new hotel-style accommodation in Hampshire.

The Manor House in West End will provide hotel facilities for patients from the Isle of Wight and the Channel Islands undergoing radiotherapy treatment at the Royal South Hants Hospital and Southampton General Hospital.

Formerly a private maternity centre, the building is now run by The Care Catalyst Limited in partnership with Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust (SUHT).

The first patients will arrive at the newly-refurbished Manor House on Tuesday and will be transported to and from the hospitals by a new shuttle bus service called The Manor Link.

Provided by Wessex Cancer Trust, the bus will also pick up Isle of Wight patients from the ferry terminal on a daily basis, enabling some patients to return home every night.

The Manor House has 15 rooms - one single and 14 twin - all with en suite facilities. There is a patient dining room for meals cooked on the premises and a therapy room for complementary therapies such as aromatherapy and reflexology as well as a garden area.

Radiotherapy out-patients from the islands have previously stayed at the Abbey Unit, the top floor of a private nursing home in the centre of Southampton.

These beds can now be used to meet the demand for nursing home places.

The Manor House will be fully staffed at all times by hotel services staff and a SUHT liaison nurse will be on duty during office hours, Monday to Friday.

At other times there will be an on-site supervisor who can assist patients to access any care they need from the SUHT oncology wards, GPs or community nurses, all of whom have been involved with setting up the service.