Ian Lavery MP column: Rutherford Cancer Centre North East that is in my ward should be re-opened

I highlighted the unacceptable case of a cancer patient in my constituency who has to travel 170 miles for therapy when suitable equipment stood unused a few miles from his home.

I know that the Labour Government is concentrating on reducing the Tory legacy of long cancer treatment waiting lists, a major factor in the UK having comparatively poor cancer survival rates.

It seems, however, to be unaware of a local asset that could be saving lives, an asset that was deemed to be “state-of-the-art” when it was opened just few years before it closed because of its private operator declaring bankruptcy.

In October 2023, I wrote to the then Tory health minister asking when the Rutherford Centre would be re-opened by the NHS.

I was told it was not of a “suitable standard for the NHS” because it was not “hospital based”, despite the fact that it had been treating NHS patients until it closed and a similar Rutherford Centre in Taunton, miles from any hospital, had been taken over by the NHS.

Ever since, Northumberland cancer patients continue to be forced to travel many miles, incurring large transport and accommodation costs, and suffering additional stresses when they least need them. This is cruel and sadly avoidable.

The Rutherford Cancer Centre is an example of the folly of the NHS outsourcing to the private sector. After years of Tory austerity, our NHS trust decided to rely on a poorly financed private company instead of installing its own modern equipment.

The result has been investors’ needs overshadowed those of cancer patients.

The NHS must acquire the local Rutherford Centre and start using its idle equipment immediately.

Instead of factoring in insolvency proceedings, it should be delivering life-saving medical procedures. This mad situation must end.

Residents in the Blyth and Ashington constituency can contact my office by calling 01670 852494 or emailing [email protected] and there are also regular updates that are posted on my Facebook page (Ian Lavery MP).