A proposal to install the £2.6m Cyberknife radiosurgery machine at Derriford Hospital was shelved last year while Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust explored ways of funding the equipment, together with a £1.7m purpose-built bunker in which to house it.
But managers have now ditched the scheme entirely in the wake of cuts to staffing and beds that are needed to meet the Government's efficiency demands. Instead, the hospital has approved plans to upgrade its three existing linear accelerator machines, which provide radiotherapy for cancer patients. One is being altered to enable it to treat head cancers in a similar way to the Cyberknife technology.
Dr Phil Hughes, the trust's consultant radiologist and assistant medical director, said: "We are committed to improving the quality of care and the radiotherapy services for our cancer patients. Having explored all of the option available to us we have made the decision to continue with the replacement of our three current treatment machines." He added that the trust would 'continue to monitor the situation' in the future. The pioneering Cyberknife equipment uses beams of radiation to accurately target hard-to-reach tumours anywhere in the body, significantly reducing the need for invasive surgery.
The news of the u-turn has been slammed by campaigners, who say the machine could have saved thousands of lives. Spokesman, Jennifer Woodford, said: "I am appalled at this decision. The South West needs to know about Cyberknife. This machine is a much-needed piece of kit to save thousands of cancer patients having to die. The treatment is given on an outpatient basis with no open surgery and no risk of infection, saving the NHS millions as surgeons and staff are not needed for what is usually a major operation. It's about time the NHS moved into the 21st Century along with the rest of the world."
Woodford, of Cornwall, spent £15,000 of her own money to undergo Cyberknife treatment in Athens two years ago. English medics had said her tumour was inoperable, but she merits it for saving her life.
The treatment is currently available at four hospitals in the UK, in London, Liverpool, Manchester and Edinburgh.
