Cancer firm expects NHS to fall short

A private company has invested around £30m in three new private cancer centres, underlining its belief that the NHS will fail to meet the rising demand for cancer treatments.

Cancer Partners UK medical director Karol Sikora told HSJ the substantial investment reflected an expectation that the cancer reform strategy target to increase radiotherapy facilities by 30 per cent by 2010 would not be met.

"Unless you start building this summer, the NHS is not going to reach that," Professor Sikora said. That meant the market for private care would inevitably grow.

The new centres will be based in hospitals owned by Spire Healthcare. The business model assumes that the vast majority of patients will have private medical insurance, but there is scope to increase capacity to offer treatments to NHS patients under the free choice scheme.

Cancer Partners UK is also in talks with a number of primary care trusts about establishing satellite radiotherapy centres for NHS patients. Professor Sikora said new technology meant cancer patients would be able to get treatment in a polyclinic-style set up, but progress had been slow due to the number of stakeholders involved in local decision making.