The Mount Vernon Cancer Centre Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee is scheduled to meet on Tuesday 16 June 2026. The meeting's agenda includes discussions on the reprovision of services at the Mount Vernon Cancer Centre and updates on the 'care closer to home' initiative. Attendees will also consider the scrutiny response to the consultation on proposed changes to services currently provided at the centre.

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

The committee's agenda includes updates on the reprovision of services at the Mount Vernon Cancer Centre (MVCC). This involves discussions surrounding the clinical case for change, which highlights the need for specialist cancer services to be relocated from the current site in Northwood due to a lack of essential acute hospital services. The reports indicate that advances in cancer care have made treatments more complex, requiring greater access to critical care and specialist medical teams, which are not available at the current MVCC site.

The consultation feedback, gathered between January and March 2026, is scheduled to be reviewed. This feedback indicates a divided public opinion on the proposal to relocate the centre to Watford General Hospital, with views largely reflecting perceived impacts on access. Concerns raised include travel times, transport options, parking, and accessibility. The reports suggest that support for relocation is often conditional on credible solutions to these issues being put in place.

Updates will also be provided on the 'care closer to home' initiative. This initiative aims to improve access for patients by bringing more routine and lower complexity care closer to where people live. Proposals include increasing chemotherapy at home, establishing a new chemotherapy unit at Hillingdon Hospital, and expanding capacity at Northwick Park Hospital. There is also a proposal to repatriate Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire haematology patients from University College London Hospital (UCLH) to the new cancer centre at Watford. Furthermore, the reports indicate plans to increase opportunities for local diagnostics, blood tests, and monitoring.

The committee will also receive information regarding the three options presented for future radiotherapy services. These options include retaining all radiotherapy services at Watford General Hospital (Option A), or establishing an additional radiotherapy unit in either Stevenage (Option B) or Luton (Option C). The feedback from the public consultation suggests a general preference for options that reduce repeated travel for radiotherapy treatment.

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

A significant portion of the meeting is dedicated to the Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee's (JHOSC) proposed collective response to the NHS consultation on the proposed changes to services at MVCC. The committee is being asked to agree the content of this response and its formal statutory position under Regulation 23 of the Local Authority (Public Health, Health and Wellbeing Boards and Health Scrutiny) Regulations 2013. The committee will consider whether any further action or escalation is required.

The background information provided highlights that MVCC serves a large cross-boundary population from Hertfordshire, London Boroughs of Hillingdon, Harrow, Brent and Ealing, Buckinghamshire, Luton, Central Bedfordshire, Bedford, and Slough. The JHOSC was established by constituent local authorities to provide coordinated scrutiny of the consultation proposals. The committee has 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. The Chair of the JHOSC has been invited to submit a formal response to the consultation by 16 July 2026.

The report outlines two options for the committee's consideration regarding their formal response: Option A, where the committee is satisfied that all needs have been considered and no further recommendations are required, or Option B, where the committee is broadly satisfied but recommends actions to address outstanding concerns. The committee will be invited to agree its formal response and determine if any further action or escalation is necessary.

The report also confirms there are no financial or legal implications arising from this report, and no Equality Impact Assessment (EqIA) or Sustainability & Equality Evaluation Decision Support (SEEDS) assessment was undertaken as they were not applicable.

The committee will be provided with the draft consultation report, which has been circulated for public scrutiny, and the final consultation report will be published with the papers for the JHOSC meeting. The programme team will also be undertaking work to involve patients and the public in reviewing suggestions made during the consultation. The meeting will include a session on 'care closer to home' and a formal regulation 23 consultation with the JHOSC to discuss the feedback report and how it is shaping the proposals. The JHOSC is asked to respond to the regulation 23 consultation by 16 July 2026, with a decision on the recommended option expected by 31 October 2026.