Barnet residents will be invited to comment on plans to relocate a cancer centre following difficulties sustaining the service.
NHS England’s head of partnerships and engagement Jessamy Kinghorn said Mount Vernon Cancer Centre in Northwood, which oversaw the care of 106 Barnet patients in 23/24, was set to be relocated around six miles further north to Watford District General Hospital.
Jessamy gave an update on the centre’s plans during an adults and health overview and scrutiny sub-committee yesterday (Thursday 5th).
Although only a “few” patients from Barnet attended the centre compared to nearly 2,000 from the borough of Hillingdon and around 650 from the borough of Brent, a public consultation would be held to ensure all patients were heard.
Speaking on the reasons behind the relocation, Jessamy said: “As well as crumbling buildings the main reason is critical care is no longer serviced on the site.
“There is no overnight service, if a patient becomes seriously unwell they will have to be transferred; there are a number of trials and treatments teams can’t do.”
She said NHS England was at a “tipping point” and changes needed to be made “now”.
The time and dates of the consultation are yet to be announced and Barnet’s health scrutiny committee agreed to receive updates on progress as part of the public consultation.
Jessamy said the proposal was for the centre to still have its own building at the Watford hospital site and University College London Hospitals NHS Trust would still run it.
For more information visit Mount Vernon_Barnet AHOSSC update August 2024.pdf (moderngov.co.uk)
Local Democracy Reporter Grace Howarth covers the London boroughs of Barnet, Enfield and Haringey as part of the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), reporting on local government, housing, planning and community issues.
