Radiotherapy

How to Find Us

The radiotherapy department at Northampton General Hospital is split between the Luke Radiotherapy building and the Oncology department. We are located in area N and the closest car park is Car Park 5.

Opening Hours

We are routinely open Monday – Friday, and our opening hours are between 08:00 – 17:00. We run an emergency out of hours service on weekends and bank holidays.

Contact Details

You can contact the radiotherapy reception desk on 01604 523840.

What is Radiotherapy?

Radiotherapy uses high powered x-rays to treat disease and can be given both externally and internally. Radiotherapy works by destroying DNA of cancer cells. Normal cells can repair themselves after radiotherapy but cancer cells cannot. Radiotherapy can be given with curative intent (to destroy the tumour and cure the cancer) or with palliative intent (to relieve symptoms). Radiotherapy can be given in conjunction with other treatments, for example: chemotherapy, immunotherapy or surgery.

Radiotherapy treatment is individually planned for each person in order to avoid as much healthy tissue as possible. Treatment can last between a few seconds and several minutes, and you may have between 1-37 treatments. You can read more information about radiotherapy treatment in our department.

Lots of different healthcare professionals are involved in the delivery of radiotherapy treatment, you can find out more about who they are and what they do. We also have student radiographers training in our department; they are always supervised by a qualified member of staff.