SalfordOnline
Your local community website
   NHS to get specialist cancer unitThe government has taken the first steps in providing an advanced form of radiotherapy to cancer patients.
Health minister Ann Keen announced that hospitals are being invited to bid for the right to host new centres for proton beam therapy, which can cure tumours without damaging nearby tissue. The treatment is often used on children and those with tumours closer to more sensitive parts of the brain and spinal cord. Britain currently has one proton therapy centre, at Clatterbridge Hospital in Wirral, which is currently able to treat just 130 of the 1,500 patients a year who could benefit from such facilities. The unit uses a low-energy machine, only suitable for treating cancers close to the eye. At present other patients who need the treatment have to go aboard to receive therapy, sometimes costing as much as £40,000 per case for the NHS. The Department of Health has asked the National Specialised Commissioning Team (NSCT) to identify suitable sites, at a cost of between £75m and £100m each. "We want to make sure that cancer services in the England are world class and that NHS patients receive the best quality treatment," Keen said. "I have asked the NCST to identify possible providers as I want this important technology to be available to NHS patients in England as soon as possible. "This is significant news for patients with rare cancers, especially children, as having proton beam therapy will mean that they will receive a better quality of treatment and will not suffer from potential side effects such hearing loss and reduced IQ." She added the move was good news for both scientists and academics "who will ensure that the UK, with its current expertise, remains at the forefront of new technologies and science". Source: ePolitix.com Copyright Dod's Parliamentary Communications Ltd
Got a news story? Need help with publicity for an event in Salford? Send it to newsdesk@salfordonline.com or call the SalfordOnline newsdesk on 0161 789 5377. |
