§ Mr. CousinsTo ask the Secretary of State for Health when the decision was taken to replace the existing Northern Centre for Cancer Treatment at Newcastle general hospital; what recent changes in numbers of linear accelerators have been made; and how many successive business cases for replacements have been submitted since 1997. [153195]
§ Mr. DenhamThe 1993 Newcastle Strategic Review strategy document did not include provision for the relocation of the Northern Centre for Cancer Treatment (NCCT) from the Newcastle general hospital site. Arising from public consultation it became apparent that, as acute services were relocated off the Newcastle general hospital site, the NCCT would become increasingly isolated from access to surgery, medicine, anaesthetics, critical care and other clinical services, Plans were therefore drawn up as part of the Freeman hospital site development control plan. Consequently, the subsequent strategic outline case (SOC) (approved in April 1998) included the reprovision of the NCCT on the Freeman hospital site.
The SOC recognised the constraints on radiotherapy capacity in the existing NCCT (six linear accelerators in 1998) and proposed that the new NCCT should open with seven linear accelerators, moving swiftly to eight and with bunker capacity for nine.
Since the publication of the Royal College of Radiologists' Report on Radiotherapy and of the National Health Service Cancer Plan in autumn 2000, the outline business case (OBC) has been amended to note the potential requirement to construct up to 12 linear accelerator bunkers should further capacity be required in the future. If required, this extension would have funding implications over and above that detailed in the existing OBC.
In 2000 funding was agreed via the New Opportunities Fund (NOF) to replace two linear accelerators at NCCT. The trust also funded the upgrading of a third linear accelerator. In addition, a seventh bunker has been constructed, giving some additional capacity and 595W flexibility to maintain six operational linear accelerators during installation and upgrading works. The first NOF funded machine was commissioned in December 2000 and the second machine will be operational in December 2001.