The Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting was scheduled to discuss the proposed relocation of the Mount Vernon Cancer Centre (MVCC) and updates on the 'Care Closer to Home' initiative. Attendees were also set to consider the committee's formal response to the public consultation on these proposed changes.

Mount Vernon Cancer Centre Reprovision Consultation and Care Closer to Home Updates

The committee was scheduled to receive updates on the ongoing consultation regarding the reprovision of services at the Mount Vernon Cancer Centre. This included information on how the consultation was being delivered and governed, participation data, and emerging themes from the first half of the consultation period. The report pack indicated that the programme team was taking actions to address gaps in engagement and responses before the consultation's close. Concerns raised at a previous meeting about the consultation progressing before capital funding was secured were clarified, with assurance that the assurance process began in early 2025 and a route to capital funding was agreed in January 2026. The MVCC scheme was to be aligned with the Watford scheme, with feasibility tested but still subject to the outcome of the public consultation. Feedback from this scrutiny was expected by the end of June 2026.

The committee was also to be updated on the development of a programme to support structured engagement with groups facing barriers to traditional consultation methods. This approach involved direct funding to Voluntary, Community, and Social Enterprise organisations to cover costs and provide access to an additional participation fund.

Further discussion was scheduled regarding radiotherapy provision, with three options presented: A) relocating all radiotherapy services to Watford; B) relocating services to Watford with an additional unit at Lister Hospital, Stevenage; or C) relocating services to Watford with an additional unit at Luton and Dunstable Hospital. Based on consultation responses received to date, support for options B and C was broadly even, while option A continued to attract significant support. Criteria for radiotherapy relocation, including acute services on site, car parking, public transport links, health inequalities, rurality, and patient numbers, were to be considered.

Updates were also scheduled on transport and access issues related to the MVCC consultation. Transport and accessibility were noted as the most frequently raised issues, with key themes including car parking availability and cost, and public transport connectivity across Hertfordshire, particularly east-west travel. Suggestions to mitigate access issues, such as park-and-ride facilities, minibus services, and voluntary transport, had been received. An independent social research organisation had been commissioned to carry out a separate engagement exercise on how patients accessed the centre, with findings to inform the Decision-Making Business Case. The committee was to receive indicative feedback from this survey, which was due to close at the end of May 2026.

Scrutiny Response to Consultation on Proposed Changes to Services Currently Provided at Mount Vernon Cancer Centre

The committee was to consider a proposed collective response to the NHS consultation on the future of services at Mount Vernon Cancer Centre. This included agreeing the content of the JHOSC Response, the committee's formal statutory position under Regulation 23 of the Local Authority (Public Health, Health and Wellbeing Boards and Health Scrutiny) Regulations 2013, and whether any further action or escalation was required. The report noted that the Chair, on behalf of the committee, had been invited to submit a formal response to the consultation by 16 July 2026. The committee was asked to consider two options for their response: Option A, where the committee is satisfied with the consultation process and has no further recommendations, or Option B, where the committee is broadly satisfied but recommends actions to address outstanding concerns.

The report also provided background information on MVCC's catchment area, the scope of the public consultation, and the establishment of the JHOSC due to the scale and cross-boundary impact of the proposals. The committee had previously considered the clinical case for change, co-location at Watford, the selection of UCLH as the preferred provider, the consultation plan, interim responses, and transport and access considerations.