Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he has taken since the July 2019 publication of the Clinical Advisory Panel's review of cancer services at Mount Vernon; and if he will make a statement.

Since the publication of the Clinical Advisory Panel’s review of cancer services at Mount Vernon, the following has taken place:

Discussions are ongoing with specialist tertiary cancer providers inside and outside of London who could potentially take on the management of this service.

Existing clinical leaders at Mount Vernon have increased their leadership duties at the hospital alongside their clinical responsibilities. Recruitment of a full-time clinical director will take place in conjunction with the new provider once they are appointed.

A business case to appoint additional staff to the Acute Oncology service was developed and submitted to NHS England. This has been approved and recruitment has begun.

Revised admission criteria and policy and a revised patient transfer policy have been developed and implemented. Daily consultant ward rounds are now in place. Regular review of transferred patient treatment and outcomes is underway and is now reported to NHS England along with other measures and reviewed jointly by the Trust and NHS England. A proposal for an enhanced 7 day a week consultant model and robust outreach medical Acute Oncology Service provision has been developed and is being considered this month.

Work is going on to confirm the radiotherapy equipment replacement programme for 2020/21 and 2021/22, with options for capital funding being investigated. ENH and Hillingdon Hospitals are meeting regularly to review and prioritise backlog maintenance within the envelope of available funding. Progress is reported monthly to NHS England. Since July there has been a whole area upgrade of the clock tower area, a project has started on refurbishment of the lifts, fire compartmentalisation has taken place and a project has started on backlog decoration including MVCC outpatients. Challenges remain around sourcing capital funding for backlog maintenance and long-term solutions for the service.