This afternoon I was very pleased to be invited to visit the Mount Vernon Cancer Centre and to hear from the team and representatives from NHS England about the most up to date plans to reprovide the cancer services.
In the past I have spoken at great length about the clinical need to move services to a new acute hospital site. While this will mean a slight increase in travel time for the most local patients, the quality of care they will receive at a new site will be greatly improved. I hope I have reassured most constituents who have raised their concerns about the move with me directly, because I continue to believe this offers the best value for patients.
NHS England have worked very closely with over 800 stakeholders and have an incredibly strong business case for the move. There is consensus amongst the main NHS bodies responsible including East and North Herts NHS Foundation Trust, UCLH, NW London ICS and NHSE. I am also very conscious that staff are supportive of the change.
I think the case for change is now recognised locally. If this project is successful then the attention must turn to looking at the future of the Mount Vernon site in the long term.
