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This is Plymouth -- A LEAKED plan drawn up by NHS bosses would see Plymouth become one of only seven brain cancer treatment centres in the UK - with 18 facing the axe. According to reports, three quarters of Britain's specialist brain cancer centres are set to close under a secret plan drawn up by health service chiefs and written by a city-based neurosurgeon. The Daily Mail reports that leaked documents reveal that NHS England is planning to shut up to 18 of the 25 facilities that currently provide targeted radiotherapy treatment for brain tumours. One senior doctor has denounced the plans as a disaster for cancer patients, warning that they would lead to the unnecessary loss of life and leave Britain trailing the rest of Europe and America in cancer survival rates. But the plan could be good news for the region, with Plymouth one of two hospitals reportedly set to retain its brain cancer treatment expertise. The controversial plans are revealed in a 'needs assessment and service review' of 'stereotactic radiosurgery' by James Palmer, the clinical director of specialised services for NHS England. Mr Palmer is a Derriford Hospital-based consultant neurosurgeon who works for Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust, and former board member. Fellow neurosurgeon Prof Andras Kemeny, the president of the British Radiosurgery Society, said doctors had not been consulted and called for the plans to be scrapped. He told the Daily Mail: "NHS England wants to limit the number of units. Doctors were not part of this review and it does not represent our views. It would be outrageous if this came to pass. "This report stands against all that the modern NHS should support. It rejects doctors' advice, excludes patients' choice and does not use the available resources sensibly." Prof Kemeny said closing some units would condemn patients with brain cancer to undergo invasive brain surgery or be subjected to "whole brain radiotherapy", where the tumour is not specifically targeted, a treatment which he said is linked with higher incidences of dementia. Stereotactic radiosurgery, meanwhile, uses precise beams of radiation to kill both cancerous and non-cancerous tumours in the head. Its development has removed the need for surgery for a great many cancer patients and is considered the gold standard for brain cancer. Patients can be treated in the morning and go home in the afternoon, whereas those who undergo invasive surgery to remove tumours can be in hospital for weeks. But the preferred option 'Scenario A' outlined in the document says: "This option means the procurement of seven devices nationally; two dedicated devices in each of the North, Midlands and East and the South and one device for London." There are currently ten devices operational in London, nine in the North of England, three in the Midlands, one in the East and two in the South West - including Plymouth. That means that under the plan seven centres would be closed in the North, two in Midlands and the East and nine in London. A second option, called Scenario B, would see 11 of the 25 centres close. Asked by the Daily Mail if the decision could cost lives Prof Kemeny said: "Yes. It will mean patients are diverted to have open surgery, which has higher risks and higher morbidity. "People will be in intensive care for days. It doesn't make any economic sense. "At a time when we are trying to catch up with the rest of Europe and the United States in cancer survival rates, we should not be going back to open surgery or whole brain radiotherapy which is ineffective, inefficient and associated with dementia." Under the plans, just 5,329 people will be able to get the non-invasive treatment annually - at a time when the incidence of brain cancer has risen by 25 per cent over the last 30 years. The Government has supported a reduction in the number of specialist stroke centres and A&E facilities on the grounds that fewer, larger units pool expertise and save lives. But Prof Kemeny said: "Those decisions had they support of clinicians. We have not been consulted." A spokesman for NHS England said the reports were part of a review that has not concluded and that it would be premature to say that units will close. The spokesman added: "There is a review ongoing. It is not finished. It is due to go into a strategy document published in the late Spring. It will then have to be subject to public consultation." A senior department of health source quoted by the national newspaper said that he had not seen the leaked document but told them: "With specialised commissioning, the case is usually that you can get patient benefit by having fewer, larger, centres. "You concentrate expertise in fewer centres and you can save more lives."
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This is Plymouth -- A LEAKED plan drawn up by NHS bosses would see Plymouth become one of only seven brain cancer treatment centres in the UK - with 18 facing the axe. According to reports, three quarters of Britain's specialist brain cancer centres are set to close under a secret plan drawn up by health service chiefs and written by a city-based neurosurgeon. The Daily Mail reports that leaked documents reveal that NHS England is planning to shut up to 18 of the 25 facilities that currently provide targeted radiotherapy treatment for brain tumours. One senior doctor has denounced the plans as a disaster for cancer patients, warning that they would lead to the unnecessary loss of life and leave Britain trailing the rest of Europe and America in cancer survival rates. But the plan could be good news for the region, with Plymouth one of two hospitals reportedly set to retain its brain cancer treatment expertise. The controversial plans are revealed in a 'needs assessment and service review' of 'stereotactic radiosurgery' by James Palmer, the clinical director of specialised services for NHS England. Mr Palmer is a Derriford Hospital-based consultant neurosurgeon who works for Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust, and former board member. Fellow neurosurgeon Prof Andras Kemeny, the president of the British Radiosurgery Society, said doctors had not been consulted and called for the plans to be scrapped. He told the Daily Mail: "NHS England wants to limit the number of units. Doctors were not part of this review and it does not represent our views. It would be outrageous if this came to pass. "This report stands against all that the modern NHS should support. It rejects doctors' advice, excludes patients' choice and does not use the available resources sensibly." Prof Kemeny said closing some units would condemn patients with brain cancer to undergo invasive brain surgery or be subjected to "whole brain radiotherapy", where the tumour is not specifically targeted, a treatment which he said is linked with higher incidences of dementia. Stereotactic radiosurgery, meanwhile, uses precise beams of radiation to kill both cancerous and non-cancerous tumours in the head. Its development has removed the need for surgery for a great many cancer patients and is considered the gold standard for brain cancer. Patients can be treated in the morning and go home in the afternoon, whereas those who undergo invasive surgery to remove tumours can be in hospital for weeks. But the preferred option 'Scenario A' outlined in the document says: "This option means the procurement of seven devices nationally; two dedicated devices in each of the North, Midlands and East and the South and one device for London." There are currently ten devices operational in London, nine in the North of England, three in the Midlands, one in the East and two in the South West - including Plymouth. That means that under the plan seven centres would be closed in the North, two in Midlands and the East and nine in London. A second option, called Scenario B, would see 11 of the 25 centres close. Asked by the Daily Mail if the decision could cost lives Prof Kemeny said: "Yes. It will mean patients are diverted to have open surgery, which has higher risks and higher morbidity. "People will be in intensive care for days. It doesn't make any economic sense. "At a time when we are trying to catch up with the rest of Europe and the United States in cancer survival rates, we should not be going back to open surgery or whole brain radiotherapy which is ineffective, inefficient and associated with dementia." Under the plans, just 5,329 people will be able to get the non-invasive treatment annually - at a time when the incidence of brain cancer has risen by 25 per cent over the last 30 years. The Government has supported a reduction in the number of specialist stroke centres and A&E facilities on the grounds that fewer, larger units pool expertise and save lives. But Prof Kemeny said: "Those decisions had they support of clinicians. We have not been consulted." A spokesman for NHS England said the reports were part of a review that has not concluded and that it would be premature to say that units will close. The spokesman added: "There is a review ongoing. It is not finished. It is due to go into a strategy document published in the late Spring. It will then have to be subject to public consultation." A senior department of health source quoted by the national newspaper said that he had not seen the leaked document but told them: "With specialised commissioning, the case is usually that you can get patient benefit by having fewer, larger, centres. "You concentrate expertise in fewer centres and you can save more lives."
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