Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust (MTW) has secured £1.8 million in funding from NHS England in the first wave of investment from its fund designed to modernise radiotherapy care across England.

NHS England is making £130 million available over three years and MTW has been allocated funding to replace one of the linear accelerators (LINACs) at Maidstone, at a value of approximately £1.8 million

The funding for MTW was announced by Simon Stevens, Chief Executive of NHS England, at the ‘Britain Against Cancer’ conference this week in London.

The radiotherapy modernisation fund was launched by NHS England in October and is the biggest upgrade to NHS cancer treatment in 15 years. The central capital funding will support replacing and modernising the LINACs which are used for Radiotherapy. The funding will enable MTW to replace an older LINAC for a new machine that has improved capabilities.

Jim Lusby, Deputy Chief Executive, MTW, says: “We are delighted by this funding announcement from NHS England which is a massive boost to our Kent Oncology Centre and will ensure we continue to provide optimum treatment, care and support to cancer patients.”

David Fitzgerald, General Manager for Cancer and Haematology, MTW, commented: “This funding is a big step forward for Kent Oncology and will allow us to continue to deliver the most advanced radiotherapy treatments to the population of Kent, Medway and East Sussex.”

Around 4 in 10 of all NHS cancer patients are treated with radiotherapy, which typically uses high-energy radiation from a machine called a linear accelerator (‘Linac’). Radiotherapy is one of the three main cancer treatments, alongside cancer surgery and chemotherapy.

The Kent Oncology Centre provides an integrated and tailored service to over 300 new patients every month and cares for a population of 1.8 million people. It provides specialist treatment of all solid cancers and haematological malignancies by consultant-led teams.
ENDS