New Hospitals Programme update

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).