A HOSPITAL patient was due to make medical history today as the first to be treated at North Staffordshire's new specialist cancer unit.

The £30 million department at the City General is the second part of the University Hospital of North Staffordshire's new £400 million superhospital to open.

It has taken 10 years to plan and replaces facilities previously scattered across the Hartshill hospital's sprawling site.

The centre's four linear accelerators, which cut out tumours, were scheduled to start work today.

New patients needing radiotherapy were the first to be booked in, as people part-way through treatment will compete their programmes at the existing unit at the Royal Infirmary to avoid disruption.

The two-storey building's chemotherapy complex and 33-bed ward will opened next month.

A hospital spokesman said: "All the staff have been given guided tours and cannot wait to start working in this state-of-the-art facility, which is what they, and the community, deserve."

The first phase of the superhospital – the £40 million maternity unit – opened in April.