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From today (Monday 19 January), members of the public, patients, staff and stakeholders can share their views on proposals to relocate the Mount Vernon Cancer Centre to a new, purpose-built facility next to Watford General Hospital, managed by University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH).

Today’s launch of the public consultation comes after an announcement earlier this month which set out a plan to secure the future of specialist cancer services for more than two million people, around half of who live in the East of England.

With plans already approved for a new Watford General Hospital, this proposal, if approved after the consultation, would add world class cancer services to the site, creating a centre of excellence in Watford.

Simon Wood, Programme Leader for NHS England in the East of England, said:

“Securing a future for Mount Vernon is great news for patients in the region. These proposals would enable us to bring together two brilliant services to create a world-class centre of excellence.

“We now want to hear from patients, staff and other interested stakeholders on what benefits, as well as what challenges, this proposal may bring.”

Modern cancer care increasingly relies on the support of a range of on-site medical and surgical services, including Accident and Emergency and critical care. Therefore the new, purpose-built cancer centre would provide all of that essential access in modern facilities, along with more space for innovation, research and training. It would continue to serve patients across Hertfordshire, north west London, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and east Berkshire.

The proposals for Mount Vernon Cancer Centre have been drawn up over the last few years with the help of patients and staff following an independent review that found specialised cancer services would not be able to continue at the existing site. The lack of other key support services has limited the number of patients the centre can treat and has led to some trials and treatments no longer being offered to patients.

Extending the scope of the redevelopment of Watford General Hospital to include the cancer centre means efficiencies could be made through joint construction, project and other arrangements to reduce the individual cost of both hospitals and thereby deliver the extended scope without increasing the overall cost to taxpayers.

Subject to the outcome of consultation and satisfactory completion of the necessary due diligence, the management of the services provided by Mount Vernon Cancer Centre would transfer from East and North Hertfordshire Teaching NHS Trust to University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH).

Matthew Coats, chief executive of West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, said:

“Expanding the Watford General scheme to include Mount Vernon Cancer Centre would be a major step forward in delivering both a world class cancer centre and a state-of-the-art hospital, which would benefit patients, our communities and our brilliant staff.

“We’re very grateful for the partnership with UCLH, a world-leading healthcare organisation, and other NHS partners who we are delighted to work with on what we believe to be a flagship opportunity to bring to life the ambitions in the 10-year plan.”

David Probert, chief executive at UCLH, said:

“We are delighted that funding has now been agreed for the proposal to relocate Mount Vernon Cancer Centre to a new purpose-built facility in Watford. We look forward to working with West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and other partners following the outcome of the consultation, to deliver a long-awaited and sustainable future for this important centre.”

The online consultation can be found on the Mount Vernon Cancer Services Review website (mvccreview.nhs.uk) and will close on Sunday 29 March 2026. There will be both online and in-person opportunities to take part.

Proposals to relocate Mount Vernon Cancer Centre to a new world class facility at Watford General Hospital set for public consultation

Plans to secure the future of specialist cancer services for more than two million people in the East of England and beyond have moved a step closer, with agreement on how to fund the capital for a new cancer centre paving the way for a public consultation later this month.

Between 19 January 2026 and 29 March 2026, patients, staff, key stakeholders and the public will be invited to share their views on proposals to relocate the Mount Vernon Cancer Centre to a new, purpose-built facility next to Watford General Hospital.

With plans already approved for a new Watford General Hospital, this proposal, if approved after public consultation, would add world class cancer services to the site, creating a centre of excellence in Watford.

Modern cancer care increasingly relies on the support of a range of on-site medical and surgical services, including Accident and Emergency and critical care. Therefore the new, purpose-built cancer centre would provide all of that essential access in modern facilities, along with more space for innovation, research and training. It would continue to serve patients across Hertfordshire, north west London, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and east Berkshire.

Proposals include expanding chemotherapy, diagnostics and follow-up care in local hospitals, increasing chemotherapy at home, and reducing the need for patients to travel long distances for routine appointments. There will also be an option to locate a second radiotherapy unit at either Luton and Dunstable Hospital or Lister Hospital in Stevenage. This would be in addition to radiotherapy at the main cancer centre and would improve access to radiotherapy for patients living in the north of the area currently served by Mount Vernon Cancer Centre.

The proposals for Mount Vernon Cancer Centre have been drawn up over the last few years with the help of patients and staff following an independent review that found specialised cancer services would not be able to continue at the existing site. This has limited the number of patients the centre can treat and has led to some trials and treatments no longer being offered to patients.

Clare Panniker, Regional Director of NHS England in the East of England, said: “Mount Vernon Cancer Centre has a proud history and an exceptional team, but the facilities no longer meet the needs of today’s complex cancer care.

“These proposals would enable us to bring together two brilliant services to create a world-class centre of excellence, serving local communities with high-quality healthcare delivered by the same compassionate staff, for decades to come.”

Extending the scope of the redevelopment of Watford General Hospital to include the cancer centre means efficiencies could be made through joint construction, project and other arrangements to reduce the individual cost of both hospitals and thereby deliver the extended scope without increasing the overall cost to taxpayers.

Subject to the outcome of consultation and satisfactory completion of the necessary due diligence, the management of the services provided by Mount Vernon Cancer Centre would transfer from East and North Hertfordshire Teaching NHS Trust to University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH).

Work is already underway on a £12m programme of enabling works at Watford General Hospital to clear the site ahead of the main hospital building. The agreement that the cancer centre could be incorporated into the scheme to redevelop Watford General Hospital will enable rapid progress on detailed design work. The final timetable for delivery of the combined scheme will be considered after the consultation period.

Matthew Coats, chief executive of West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “Expanding the Watford General scheme to include Mount Vernon Cancer Centre would be a major step forward in delivering both a world class cancer centre and a state-of-the-art hospital, which would benefit patients, our communities and our brilliant staff.

“We’re very grateful for the partnership with UCLH, a world-leading healthcare organisation, and other NHS partners who we are delighted to work with on what we believe to be a flagship opportunity to bring to life the ambitions in the 10-year plan.”

Adam Sewell-Jones, chief executive at East and North Hertfordshire Teaching NHS Trust, said: "Our staff at Mount Vernon Cancer Centre deliver outstanding care, and a new cancer centre would allow them to provide the most modern, innovative treatments. Continuity and quality of care for our patients and staff remains our highest priority. We will also ensure there will be plenty of opportunities for patients and staff to ask questions about the proposals and express their views.”

David Probert, chief executive at UCLH, said: “We are delighted that funding has now been agreed for the proposal to relocate Mount Vernon Cancer Centre to a new purpose-built facility in Watford. We look forward to working with West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and other partners following the outcome of the consultation, to deliver a long-awaited and sustainable future for this important centre.”

A Pre-Consultation Business Case and consultation materials have been finalised as part of NHS England’s assurance process. The public consultation will open on 19 January until 29 March 2026 with both online and in-person opportunities to take part.

Following the recent Government spending review and as part of the approval process to go to public consultation, we have been asked to explore opportunities for further integration with the Watford General Hospital scheme and some alternative sources of capital.

We are working quickly to explore the level of joint working that may be possible and the financing options that could now be available, before completing the approval process to launch the consultation as soon as we are able to.

The proposal remains to relocate the cancer centre to new, purpose-built facilities on the Watford General Hospital site, run by UCLH, with a network of services in local hospitals providing more care closer to home. This is necessary because services at Mount Vernon Cancer Centre are not sustainable in their current form.

The recent spending review presents an opportunity to explore a range of financing options which might help unlock the funding needed for the relocation of the cancer centre

We need to quickly explore these possibilities to see how they might work before we carry out a public consultation.

While this may change the expected consultation timeline, it represents a positive step. If successful, this could enable a more deliverable proposal and help us move more quickly towards construction of the new centre.

We remain committed to engaging patients, staff, and communities in shaping the future of cancer care.

Confirmation that the redevelopment of Watford General Hospital is going ahead as part of the New Hospital Programme is positive news for patients, staff, and for the redevelopment of the nearby Mount Vernon Cancer Centre.

This certainty means we can begin our public consultation this year on proposals to relocate Mount Vernon Cancer Centre onto the Watford General Hospital site in the future.

We are working closely with the teams at Watford General and University College London Hospital (UCLH) to progress the redevelopment plans. Alongside that, we are also working in a number of areas to improve services in the short term, measures that will support better care for our cancer patients before the redevelopment happens. The first of these improvements is an integrated acute oncology service at Watford, providing rapid care for patients with acute cancer related problems or treatment related emergencies, which will be operational this year.

The funding for the proposed relocation of Mount Vernon Cancer Centre was never part of the New Hospitals Programme and was not expected to be included in this review. NHSE are continuing to explore viable funding options for the redevelopment with our partners at pace and our decision to progress to a public consultation is a strong indication of the commitment to providing safe, high quality and accessible specialised cancer care for the Mount Vernon Cancer Centre population.

Note: Currently patients who cannot be admitted to Mount Vernon Cancer Centre or need to be transferred to an acute hospital due to the lack of acute services on the current site, are usually treated at Watford General Hospital as the nearest acute hospital. The integrated acute oncology service will work with patients experiencing acute cancer related problems or treatment related emergencies whether they are newly diagnosed, have a known cancer diagnosis or are already receiving treatment.

At this week’s national Strategy, Planning and Investment Committee, it was agreed that public consultation could go ahead on proposals to relocate MVCC. This is subject to the normal NHS England assurance processes for schemes requiring public consultation.

This follows news last year that proposals to relocate Mount Vernon Cancer Centre had not been selected to join the New Hospitals Programme, work has continued to discuss possible ways to meet the urgent need to re-provide MVCC services on an acute hospital site.

NHS England’s Chief Finance Officer has provided a commitment in writing to work jointly with commissioning teams to identify the necessary local and national money for the scheme which has been confirmed as a regional priority. The scheme will still require capital funding to be made available before building could begin.

Read more: MVCC Stakeholder Update May 2024

The relocation of Mount Vernon Cancer Centre has not been included in the announcement of New Hospitals Programme schemes (25th May 2023). However, we have been having extremely constructive conversations with the national team in order to reach a conclusion.

It is widely accepted there is an urgent need to re-provide Mount Vernon cancer services on an acute hospital site, and it remains the preferred long-term option, and the right one for patients.

The dedicated staff at Mount Vernon Cancer Centre have been working extremely hard over many years to maintain services despite challenges of poor buildings and a lack of other medical facilities on the same site. The team will keep doing their best for their patients, and to provide support to cancer services at other hospitals.

We will keep working together with our partners - East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust, NHS England and UCLH, with patients, carers, staff, Healthwatch, the Cancer Alliances, the new Integrated Care Boards, and other organisations providing cancer care, to ensure patients can access the care and treatment they need, whilst continuing to work with national colleagues on the long-term future.

In addition to this statement, UCLH has reconfirmed its commitment to working with us to find a capital solution to improve MVCC. UCLH has been working for a number of years with NHS England and East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust to support the delivery of high-quality cancer services from Mount Vernon Cancer Centre and to develop plans for a new MVCC on an acute site. Discussions are ongoing about other routes to capital funding for a new centre, and UCLH remains committed to working with all partners to find a capital solution to improve MVCC for patients and staff.

You can find the Secretary of State for Health's full statement here: Health and Social Care Secretary Oral Statement on NHP - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Early detection of breast cancer is important for ensuring the best possible outcome. Get used to checking regularly and be aware of anything that is new and different to you. Visit https://breastcancernow.org for more information and support on breast health.

To learn more about breast cancer treatment at Mount Vernon Cancer Centre, follow the pathway through diagnosis and treatment:

East and North Hertfordshire Charity Trust have created a special guide for staff, patients, and visitors to easily discover and enjoy the beautiful green spaces around the current Mount Vernon Cancer Centre.

As Prostate Cancer Awareness Month 2022 draws to a close, we share an informative video featuring Andrew Gabriel, who runs prostate cancer support groups and educational programmes in the East of England. Andrew has previously led a support group at Mount Vernon Cancer Centre, which he is working to relaunch. In his TEDx talk from earlier this year, he shares what he learned from his own experience with prostate cancer, the importance of early detection and basics of treatment. Thank you, Andrew for your important work!