Petition calls for mothballed Bedlington cancer clinic's facilities to be used to cut NHS waiting times

Professor Karol Sikora worked for Rutherford Health when it entered liquidation in June 2022, and is now campaigning to put its dormant facilities back to use.

The £32m Bedlington centre offered recently developed proton beam therapy (PBT) among other cancer treatments.

The professor believes these facilities, currently owned by investment firm Equitix, could help reduce NHS waiting times.

He said: "Cancer patients across the North East are suffering from unacceptable delays when a state-of-the-art cancer centre is lying empty in Bedlington. It is absolute lunacy.

"How can NHS England and local trusts not come to some accommodation and work together to reopen the centre?

“The decision-maker Equitix, despite moving at a snail's pace so far, would be forced into action and we could have the facility reopened within weeks, treating hundreds and hundreds of patients with some of the most advanced cancer treatment technology in the world.

"Let's show a can-do attitude and deliver some positive change for once. Hopefully this petition can at least highlight the strength of feeling in the area to decision makers.”

Professor Sikora previously wrote an open letter to Equitix, NHS England, and the Department of Health and Social Care to call for a meeting to discuss use of the facilities.

The Department for Health previously told the Northumberland Gazette that the site does not meet the NHS PBT requirements, but Professor Sikora says scanners, chemotherapy suites, and radiotherapy equipment are also sitting unused.

You can sign the petition, which has over 1,400 signatures, at petition.parliament.uk/petitions/644753.