A North East MP has called on Northumbria NHS Healthcare Trust to consider bringing a life saving cancer treatment centre under its control, as the company behind it has gone bust.
Ian Lavery says he has met with Sir James Mackey, chief executive of the trust, to urge him to consider options for saving the groundbreaking Rutherford Cancer Centre North East located in the MP's Wansbeck constituency. Earlier this week it emerged the group behind the centre - which officially opened three years ago offering cutting edge proton beam therapy - was facing liquidation. That is likely to lead to the closure of the centre at Bormasund.
Mr Lavery said: “The Rutherford Centre in Bomarsund was only opened in 2018 and offered innovative proton beam therapy to cancer sufferers alongside more established treatments. Whilst it did work contracted by the National Health Service it was fundamentally a private healthcare firm and this always sat uncomfortably with me.
