North East Herts MP, Sir Oliver Heald, and Stevenage MP, Stephen Mc Partland, today met representatives of NHS England together with Lister Consultant Surgeon Tom Holme (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 reprovisioning 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. 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.

Commenting, Oliver said, “This was a real step forward and I will now ask the Trust to prepare and submit a Business Case as suggested.”

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