Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many gamma knife radiosurgery machines there are in (a) use, (b) NHS hospitals and which are privately owned and (c) private hospitals.

NHS England does not routinely collect, or hold, information on the numbers of gamma knife treatment platforms in use in England. However, NHS England can confirm that, as at summer 2015, there were at least seven providers equipped with gamma knife machines in England:

- BUPA Cromwell*

- London Gamma Knife Centre*

- Queens Square Radiosurgery Centre*

- Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

- Leeds Gamma Knife Centre*

- Thornbury Radiosurgery Centre Ltd*

- University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust

NHS England took over responsibility for commissioning intracranial stereotactic radiosurgery/stereotactic radiotherapy services in April 2013. This is supported by a national service specification, together with a number of clinical commissioning policies. The service specification sets out that there are three acceptable treatment platforms to deliver the service, of which Gamma Knife is only one. National Health Service providers, that are commissioned to deliver the service, are responsible for determining which platform(s) to use.

Notes:

1. *Denotes independent sector providers.
2. As the information is not routinely collected by NHS England, the above may not be fully reflective of the current position.