The Welsh Government has allocated funding to the Velindre Cancer Centre PPP project in Cardiff in its Draft Budget for 2019-20. The project is being developed using the Mutual Investment Model (MIM), which was launched in 2017.

The project involves the construction of a new hospital to replace the existing Velindre Cancer Centre (VCC), a specialist cancer treatment centre that serves over 1.5 million people across South East Wales. The centre opened as Velindre Hospital in 1956, and became the Cancer Centre in 1994. 

However lack of sufficient infrastructure upgrades mean that the VCC environment is not conducive to 21st Century service provision. The current accommodation has passed its ’useful life’ and is deemed not fit for purpose. There are major constraints with the current structure and available space to carry out effective and efficient cancer treatments.

The government's investment is due to survival rates for cancer being historically been lower in Wales than most other European countries, with five-year survival around four percentage points less than the European average.

The government has not disclosed when it plans to tender the project. A tender for the first pilot MIM project was launched in July.