Our service in Stevenage to improve access to PET-CT scans for NHS cancer patients in Hertfordshire and central Bedfordshire has gone from strength to strength.
Our service in Stevenage to improve access to PET-CT scans for NHS cancer patients in Hertfordshire and central Bedfordshire has gone from strength to strength, ensuring patients receive the right treatment at the right time. The service forms part of a major contract awarded to Paul Strickland Scanner Centre by NHS England.
The twice-weekly service, run in partnership with InHealth and operating in addition to our long-established service at Mount Vernon, was launched when a new mobile scanner arrived at Stevenage’s Lister Hospital during August 2020 to help patients have their cancer scans closer to home, potentially saving them a 70-mile round trip to Paul Strickland Scanner Centre in Northwood. Up to 40 patients are scanned at the Lister Hospital site in Stevenage per week, following Paul Strickland Scanner Centre imaging protocols, with special designated slots available for patients who are on the rapid lung cancer diagnostic and care pathway.
All patients are booked by our dedicated bookings team and vetted by our radiographers. Our consultant team reports scans from both locations and we have expanded our core consultant group in order to meet the demands of the service.
Claire Strickland, Paul Strickland Scanner Centre CEO, said: “It’s clear that the new service has significantly improved patient choice and access for those patients who would prefer to have their scans in Stevenage instead of having to travel to Mount Vernon. “In particular patients from Luton, who have historically had markedly poor cancer outcomes, benefit from being able to have their scans in Stevenage, as car ownership amongst patients in this group can often be low and public transport links between Luton and Mount Vernon are relatively poor. We hope that improving access to cancer patients in Luton will improve health and cancer outcomes for this patient group.”
