This week, Stevenage MP, Stephen McPartland, and North East Herts MP, Sir Oliver Heald, met representatives of NHS England together with Lister Consultant Surgeon Tom Holme, who is Chairman of the Lister Consultants’ Committee. NHS England were represented by the national Chair of the Clinical Reference Group for Radiotherapy, Adrian Crellin, Accountable Commissioner Kim Fell, Ruth Ashmore Regional Head of Specialised Commissioning and Joanne Pope of Specialised Services.
At the meeting, the MPs outlined the misery of the journey to Mount Vernon and pressed for a satellite radiotherapy centre at Lister Hospital. This would mean re-provisioning two radiotherapy machines from Mount Vernon to Lister and providing the necessary staffing. NHS England agreed to research the area’s radiotherapy services as part of the national study of access to radiotherapy by July 2015.
Commenting, Stephen said, “This meeting brought together all the main decision makers and was the culmination of years of work. It is a massive step forward and we are another step closer to finally getting justice for local cancer patients."
It was proposed that East and North Herts NHS Trust, which runs Lister and Mount Vernon, should prepare and submit a Business Case for a satellite radiotherapy centre serviced by Mount Vernon at Lister Hospital on the same model as the Christie Hospital in Manchester, which has satellites at Salford and Oldham. This model is supported by Mr Crellin’s Group.
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