Mount Vernon in £260m bid for new Cancer Centre

Two years after new concerns were raised about the future of Mount Vernon Cancer Centre services; a bid for funding for a new Cancer Centre has been submitted to the UK Government.

The bid is for £260m to build a new Mount Vernon Cancer Centre (MVCC) in Watford and a satellite radiotherapy unit in either Luton or Stevenage. Changes are also proposed to develop a chemotherapy unit at Hillingdon Hospital and enhance chemotherapy services at Northwick Park Hospital as part of improving care closer to home for patients served by the specialist cancer service of Mount Vernon, in response to feedback from patients.

The new centre and units will replace the existing Mount Vernon Cancer Centre in Northwood, Hillingdon. The proposal has been developed with patients, local people, cancer centre staff, other health professionals and voluntary groups following the conclusion of an Independent Clinical Review in 2019 which said that services could not stay as they are. Co-location with the broader medical and surgical specialties in an acute hospital is considered essential for provision of modern, specialist cancer services.

The bid has been submitted to the Department of Health and Social Care as part of the UK Government’s New Hospital Programme. Eight hospitals schemes will be funded via this programme following an expression of interest and decision process. A final decision on which schemes will be selected is due in the Spring (2022).

Professor Peter Hoskins, a Consultant in Clinical Oncology at Mount Vernon Cancer Centre since 1992, said “Whilst our staff deliver the best care they can to our patients, the new cancer centre will result in a major improvement for cancer patients in the area. It will be the most important build of this nature in the UK, and bring security for cancer services for patients within the area for the next 50 years”.

Doing nothing or doing the minimum on the current site and in the current facilities has been ruled by out clinicians and managers as the service would not be able to survive without the onsite medical support it needs to deliver modern specialist cancer services, and in buildings which are more than a century old and plagued with problems.

An alternative option of closing the Cancer Centre and dispersing the services to the next nearest specialist cancer centres is not desired by managers or clinicians, and has been branded “unacceptable” by patient representatives who say it would increase journey times and costs, especially for disadvantaged communities, break up services, increase pressure on other hospitals and be very expensive.

A representative of the Mount Vernon Patient Reference Group said; “This is a fantastic opportunity to develop something that truly meets the needs of patients and improves their experiences - reducing traveling times, improving choice and treatment options and giving patients an opportunity to help design the new services. It's the only option that will meet patients’ needs in the future.”

They added, “Any capital investment on a complete new initiative would not only in the long run save the NHS money but improve the quality of people’s lives too.”

Mount Vernon Cancer Centre is one of the largest cancer facilities in the country and provides non-surgical cancer treatments for patients from a catchment area including Hertfordshire and significant parts of Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and North West London.

The bid process was led by UCLH, in collaboration with commissioners, the six Integrated Care Systems that refer to Mount Vernon Cancer Centre and East and North Herts NHS Trust who manage the centre. UCLH took this role as once firm proposals for Mount Vernon Cancer Centre’s future are agreed, in line with one of the Independent Clinical Review recommendations, UCLH is due to take over running the Cancer Centre. This change in management is subject to due diligence and UCLH’s board approval.