§ Mr. Teddy Taylorasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what guidance he has provided to regional health authorities about the minimum numbers of new patients requiring radiotherapy treatment which should be the basis of an area radiotherapy unit; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mrs. Currie[pursuant to her reply, 21 October 1986]: Guidance on the organisation of radiotherapy services for the treatment of cancer is contained in HC(78)32, a copy of which is in the Library. Further guidance is contained in a report an acute services for cancer by an expert working group of the standing sub-committee on cancer of the Department's standing medical advisory committee. This was sent to health authorities under cover of HN(84)23, a copy of which is also in the Library.
Both the guidance and the report on acute services for cancer draw attention to the variety of factors that health authorities will need to take into account. They envisage 991W that over 3,000 new cancer cases, a substantial proportion of whom will require radiotherapy, will arise annually from a population of one million, and that normally a population of one million is considered to be the smallest to produce a sufficient caseload for a clinically and economically viable ratiotherapy centre.