A £130 m investment to ‘kick-start’ the upgrade of radiotherapy equipment (which is used to treat around 4 in 10 of all NHS cancer patients), and to ‘transform cancer treatment’ across England, will see older ‘linac’ radiotherapy equipment used by hospitals countrywide upgraded or replaced over the next two years.
In announcing the funding, NHS England said that, while it is recommended that ‘linacs’ be replaced after around 10 years in use, the last major national investment in NHS radiotherapy machines was in ‘the early 2000s’. The £130 m fund will, over the next two years, enable half of the five-year modernisation programme recommended by the independent Cancer Taskforce, paying for over 100 replacements or upgrades of radiotherapy machines in hospitals around England.
Cally Palmer, national director for Cancer at NHS England, and chief executive of the Royal Marsden Hospital, said: “Cancer survival rates in this country have never been higher, and we’re seeing more people than ever come forward with symptoms – over 1.7 million referrals for urgent NHS investigation were made by GPs last year. Today’s announcement is a decisive launch of our five-year programme to modernise radiotherapy services.”
