Cancer screening investment for Brighton hospital trust

A total of 78 trusts across the country are set to benefit from the £200m to upgrade cancer testing and detection technology.

Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs Brighton’s Royal Sussex County Hospital and Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath, is one of those to receive money to replace, refurbish and upgrade CT and MRI scanners as well as breast screening imaging and assessment equipment.

The Government says that replacing and upgrading machines will improve efficiency as they are easier to use, they scan and construct images quicker, and reduce the need to re-scan, which will improve patient experience and will lead to earlier diagnosis.

Cally Palmer, national cancer director at NHS England, said: “Cancer survival is at a record high thanks to better prevention, earlier diagnosis and world leading treatments in the NHS.

“This major investment in the best modern scanning technology will benefit patients in every part of England, helping us to achieve the NHS Long Term Plan’s ambitions of catching tens of thousands more cancers earlier when they are easier to treat, saving 55,000 more lives every year.”

Each trust has been allocated funding for new machines based on an assessment of local infrastructure and local population need. They will all contribute to the NHS long term plan’s goal of catching three quarters of all cancers earlier when they are easier to treat.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock added: “This new state-of-the-art equipment for NHS trusts in the South East will ensure doctors and clinicians can help even more people survive a cancer diagnosis and stop the disease as early as possible.

“It’s mission critical that the technology our NHS uses to prevent and diagnose cancer is brought into the twenty first century.

“We have backed the roll out of these new machines with £200 million in funding, as part of our long term plan, backed by an extra £33.9 billion a year.”