§ Mr. Ben ChapmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on investment in proton therapy at Clatterbridge hospital. [132279]
§ Miss Melanie JohnsonThe cost of cyclotron equipment was approximately £5 million and originally installed by the Medical Research Council. The facilities to provide proton therapy for eye tumours were funded by the Imperial Cancer Research Fund at a cost of approximately £1 million.
The cyclotron and the proton therapy facility were donated as a charitable gift to the Clatterbridge hospital, part of the Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology National Health Service Trust. The equipment is not subject to capital charges arrangements, with its running costs met through income generated from the treatment of NHS and overseas patients. Income is also generated from the supply of radioactive isotopes to Christie hospital. The cyclotron equipment has also attracted charitable funding, which is used in part to re-develop parts of the equipment and to fund some of the research activities.