NHS England is in the process of setting out ambitious plans for a Hillingdon-based hospital.
The plans, outlined in a report from August this year, would see the cancer centre at Mount Vernon Hospital in Northwood close.
NHS planners say their proposals will ensure better cancer treatment for patients in north west London and the surrounding counties.
NHS East England Head of Partnerships and Engagement, Jessamy Kinghorn, told the North West Londoner how the hospital is currently not able to offer newer cancer treatments, as it lacks the critical care facilities necessary.
This means the centre cannot currently offer the latest cancer treatments available, because when a patient falls ill whilst being treated, the hospital does not have the best equipment to help them.
Kinghorn said: “Mount Vernon is probably the only cancer centre without these facilities in the country.”
She explained that without the upgrade, as cancer treatments progress, the lack of facilities at the hospital would slowly make it redundant.
Kinghorn’s department has produced a plan to move the Mount Vernon facilities to a new site located next to Watford Hospital – just over five miles away.
This would mean that patients could access Watford’s Accident and Emergency centre and critical care services if necessary.
The plans have taken into account the different areas from where people travel to access Mount Vernon Hospital.
So depending on their closest hospital, some patients would be sent for treatment at other sites including Hillingdon and Northwick Park.
Mount Vernon Hospital is currently operating out of a 1904 building which originally served as a sanatorium for tuberculosis.
A 2019 report into the hospital found that much of the building was “decrepit” and “not fit for purpose”.
Kinghorn admitted: “There are all sorts of problems with the building.”
She added that by being located just within the ULEZ boundaries, the hospital has become a frustration for some patients – making Watford a more desirable location for cancer services.
She confirmed that the non-cancer services provided on the Mount Vernon site – set in much newer, fit-for-purpose buildings – would continue to operate.
Northwood resident Krupa Patel, whose father was treated for cancer at the hospital earlier this year, was upset to hear about the proposal.
She said: “The site is beautiful. It’s warm and safe with key services required for patients who are so poorly.
“It will be devastating for Mount Vernon to be closed and chopped up.
“Pump some money into enhancing it for all – but don’t lose that department, because it works.”
She pointed out that the Mount Vernon site was quieter than the locations of surrounding hospitals – in part due to it not having an Accident and Emergency Department.
Patel added this had proved positive for her father’s wellbeing and had made a big difference to his overall experience.
NHS planners are currently trying to secure the funding necessary for the centre to move.
Their efforts follow the completion of Lord Darzi’s report on the NHS, which concluded it not only needed more money to fix “crumbling” buildings, but new structures to make it more productive.
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