London, England– A coalition of stakeholders including leaders from patient groups, academia, government and the private sector have released a report that provides recommendations to the NHS that would improve and expand access to advanced radiotherapy services in the UK amidst calls for increased funding by the all party parliamentary group for radiotherapy.
The report builds upon a public petition led by the charity Action Radiotherapy. The petition asks to increase the NHS Cancer budget dedicated to radiotherapy from 5% to 6.5%, and a one-time £250 million investment to modernise existing machines and build satellite radiotherapy centres to ensure accessible service nationwide.
Currently, the NHS spends only 5 percent of its budget on radiotherapy services although around 50 percent of cancer patients will need radiotherapy as a part of their treatment.
The report outlines eight recommendations for maintaining high-quality, sustainable radiotherapy services. It is designed to support NHS England in delivering on its goal to ensure equal access to radiotherapy services and provide the best clinical outcomes and experience for people with cancer and their families.
“Radiotherapy is a life-saving and cost-effective treatment option but many people in the UK do not have reasonable access to it. We want all patients to have access to the best radiotherapy for their cancer” said Pat Price, Chair of the Board of Trustees at Action Radiotherapy. “More appropriately resourcing of radiotherapy is crucial to providing better outcomes for patients.”
“Our member companies research and develop cutting-edge radiotherapy technology that provides safe, effective treatment and that can help manage almost every type of cancer,” said Scott Whitaker, CEO of the Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed). “We are grateful for the opportunity to participate in this dialogue and help shape the recommendations that will bring the UK one step closer to providing advanced radiotherapy treatments to all patients who need it.”
Among the recommendations in the report, the group noted that travel times to facilities are particularly burdensome for patients and provided the guideline that NHS England should aim for a maximum of 45 minutes travel time for radiotherapy appointments.
The release of these recommendations comes on the heels of the release of the APPG Radiotherapy manifesto and public petition, which requests the need for improved radiotherapy services in the UK.
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About AdvaMed
AdvaMed member companies produce the medical devices, diagnostic products and health information systems that are transforming health care through earlier disease detection, less invasive procedures and more effective treatments. AdvaMed members range from the largest to the smallest medical technology innovators and companies. For more information, visit www.advamed.org.
AdvaMed Press Contact:
Elyse Petroni
epetroni@advamed.org
1-202-434-7271
About Action Radiotherapy
Action Radiotherapy is the only National Charity established to support radiotherapy patients and professionals. It aims to ensure all patients receive the best radiotherapy for their cancer, offering information and communications services. It also provides a networking hub for the multidisciplinary professionals who treat with radiotherapy; clinicians, therapy radiographers and medical physicists to ensure best practice can be shared wherever patients are treated in the UK. For more information visitwww.actionradiotherapy.org/. The charity also provides the secretariat for the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Radiotherapywww.actionradiotherapy.org/appg and has set up the petition to request more Government funding for radiotherapy https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/225310.
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Action Radiotherapy Press Contact:
Ms Gillian Aitken
0203 051 5671
gaitken@actionradiotherapy.org or
info@actionradiotherapy.org
