Proton Beam Centre

Two new "game-changing" NHS proton beam therapy facilities are set to open within 2-3 years.

18:15 10 December 2015

Two new NHS proton beam therapy facilities are set to offer treatment to 1,500 patients a year. The one at the Christie cancer centre in Manchester will be ready to accept patients by 2018 while the other one is due to open in 2019.

 

Proton beam therapy is particularly helpful for children with rare and complex tumours. The treatment is targeted with increased success rate and carries minimal risk of damaging surrounding tissues.

 

Sir Robert Naylor, chief executive of University College London Hospital said: "To have work under way on this long-awaited centre is tremendous news.

 

"This will be a game-changer for NHS patients who will benefit from local access to advanced treatments."

 

Until the centres are ready, the NSH will continue to pay for the treatment of patients who are forced to go to foreign clinics to get treated. The NHS pays clinics in the United States an average of £75,000 for the beam therapy for each patient. The cost includes travel and accommodation expenses as well as associated medical care such as chemotherapy. The cost will be reduced by more than 40per cent when the new proton beam centres in the UK open.