Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to paragraph 7 of the report, Next Steps on the Five Year Forward View, published by NHS England in March 2017, how many state of the art new and upgraded linear accelerators are available to NHS patients in England; and how many have been introduced since the publication of that report.

In October 2016, NHS England announced a £130 million fund to modernise radiotherapy across England. This is ensuring that older linear accelerators (LINACs - radiotherapy machines) being used by hospitals across the country are being upgraded or replaced, giving cancer patients access to the latest leading-edge technology regardless of where they live. Since October 2016, NHS England has approved funding to replace or upgrade 78 machines across England, with 48 of those since publication of Next Steps on the Five Year Forward View (NSFYFV). We will meet the commitment in NSFYFV shortly, completing the modernisation programme.