27.08.13
£30m investment for radiotherapy
The Capital Equipment Fund has delivered huge savings on a deal for radiotherapy equipment, health minister Lord Howe has announced.
20 True Beam linear accelerators will be provided by Varian Medical Systems in the biggest ever DH equipment deal, worth £30m. The fund has secured savings of around 10% compared to trusts buying the systems individually.
Lord Howe said: “We want the NHS to have the best cancer services in the world and by investing £30m in these additional machines, patients will have better access to this highly effective form of treatment.
“We are committed to improving cancer survival rates, saving an additional 5,000 lives each year and making sure that cancer survivors have the best quality of life. We have already invested £173m to expand our radiotherapy capacity.
“This deal means patients will get first class cancer care but it is also a great bit of business. It is a fantastic example of how the NHS can use its size and bulk buying power to save money – millions will be saved for the NHS, which can be ploughed back into patient care.”
Andy Brown, MD of Business Solutions at NHS Supply Chain said: “Radiotherapy equipment accounts for some of the most advanced medical equipment in the NHS. Linear Accelerators represent significant capital investment for NHS trusts, but by utilising good procurement models savings can be achieved to make them more affordable.
“Across the NHS there are over 200 Linear accelerator machines which are more than five years old and there are 98 machines that have exceeded the 10 year recommended replacement time and need to be urgently replaced. We hope that this deal enables trusts to replace critically aged equipment and bring newer more clinically effective technology, such as image guided radiotherapy (IGRT), into hospitals.
“This is an important deal for the NHS and is a very important enabler for the NHS to modernise its asset base for Linear Accelerators, to provide the most technologically advanced cancer treatment as well as improving treatment times. NHS Supply Chain is committed to bringing more value to the NHS through good procurement and asset management in this way, across all types of capital medical equipment.”
David Scott, sales director at Varian Medical Systems, said: “This new contract with NHS Supply Chain recognises the need for highly efficient, state of the art technology for the treatment of cancer in NHS hospitals.
“This order will help ensure that today’s NHS meets all three of these targets and will allow more NHS patients to access to the latest techniques such as Stereotactic Radiotherapy and RapidArc Radiosurgery.”
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