A £500,000 cash injection is needed to help transform a 1980s day surgery unit into a modern and comfortable facility.

The Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust will begin a £1.4m refurbishment of its day surgery unit at the Churchill Hospital to make it more comfortable and private for patients.

Work will begin in September to replace the 18 screened-off partitions with 14 beds split across single rooms and two and four-bed bays as well as installing six consultation rooms.

However, the trust’s charitable fund has launched an appeal to raise the £500,000 needed to add the finishing touches to the unit.

Surgery and oncology general manager Rainer Buhler said the new facility would give patients more privacy and comfort.

He added: “We are now in a completely different era and different world.

“The Churchill is a 21st century healthcare facility, this will bring the day surgery up in line with that. But it’s also about improving the patient experience, giving them privacy and comfort.”

When the £109m cancer centre opened at the Churchill Hospital in 2009 it doubled the hospital’s number of theatres from five to 10, with 8,000 patients a year now passing through the day surgery unit.

Operations manager Ben Wright said the unit needed updating because it was designed for half the capacity.

He added: “It is about making sure the unit can meet capacity.

“But patients’ expectations are different. They expect to be treated in a certain way and have the space to talk openly without the concern of being overheard.”

Now the charitable fund is urging people to help it raise the £500,000 needed because the NHS will only pay for the necessities.

Director of fundraising Jayne Ozanne said : “The money is going towards making it a much more aesthetically pleasing space.”

The charitable fund hopes to create a specialist breast cancer consultation room, with mirrors, so that women can see their consultants and be fitted for breast forms.

But the fund also wants to use the cash to install a light tunnel, to bring more daylight to the unit. Other plans include improving the courtyard garden to create a communal space.

Mr Wright said: “Part of the reason for the fundraising is improving the patient experience, the fittings to be good and having more daylight.”

If you can help call the Oxford Mail on 01865 425405.