Radiotherapy: Medical Treatments
(asked on 30th March 2022) - View Source
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will undertake a capacity and demand review of radiotherapy cancer services; and if he will take steps to increase overall radiotherapy capacity.
Answered by
Maria Caulfield
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
In 2022/23, NHS England and NHS Improvement will undertake a capacity and demand review of external beam radiotherapy capacity. This review is intended to support systems to plan radiotherapy provision, including the replacement of equipment. The review will not consider IT connectivity or the age of machines as these factors should form part of system planning for equipment replacement.
NHS England and NHS Improvement have commenced a three-year pilot of a new cloud-based technology ‘ProKnow’, as recommended in the Digital Playbook for Cancer. This system will enable clinicians to collaborate virtually within and across services to plan treatments, undertake peer review processes and participate in large-scale audit and quality improvement processes.