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type: Answer
type: WrittenAnswer
answer has question: uWPVEwkd
answer has answering person: lnhtzHcA
answer text: NHS England commissions stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) for certain presentations of non-small cell lung cancer only where the clinical community have agreed there is sufficient evidence of its benefit. From April 2013, commissioned centres providing this service are required by NHS England to demonstrate they serve a sufficiently large catchment area which allows them to carry out a minimum of 25 patients each year to maintain expertise. NHS England will monitor centres against this requirement. NHS England is committed to equitable access for all patients requiring radiotherapy in England and will not be placing restrictions on any specific populations. A review of stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) for intracranial conditions is currently under way and is expected to be complete by the end of the year and a review of other radiotherapy techniques is planned to follow. These service driven projects will include all regions of England and will be used to inform future NHS England radiotherapy planning and ensure a reasonable geographical distribution of SRS services across England. NHS England has no national plans to reconfigure radiotherapy services, although for intensity modulated radiotherapy there is commissioner driven expansion taking place to improve access. The application of the SABR policy and the outcomes of the reviews of SRS and other radiotherapy techniques will be used to inform future planning. NHS England is not mandated to make sure that all patients needing radiotherapy and radiosurgery do not have to travel more than 45 minutes for their treatment but are mindful of the recommendation of the National Radiotherapy Advisory Group that the majority of patients should have travel times lower than this. NHS England will work with radiotherapy centres to make sure existing equipment is being used effectively, clinical expertise is available and travel times are kept to a minimum.
answer given date: 2013-10-22+01:00
answer has answering body: qjSEa2Ms
written answer has answering body: qjSEa2Ms