Following vehement opposition from cancer patients and members of Parliament, National Health Service (NHS) England has reportedly reversed its plan to privatize PET/CT scanning services for cancer patients at Churchill Hospital in Oxford, according to a March 27 report in the Guardian.
The NHS' action means that the facility's two hybrid imaging scanners will continue to be operated by NHS clinicians, rather than staff from InHealth. InHealth had planned to transport cancer patients from Churchill Hospital to the GenesisCare private cancer clinic in Littlemore, 4 miles away, for PET/CT scans, according to the article.
NHS England also has confirmed that InHealth will not relocate the PET/CT scanners to Littlemore after warnings that the move would adversely affect the quality of care and patient safety, the report added.
InHealth still has a contract to provide PET/CT scanning for the entire Thames Valley for at least seven, and possibly 10, years, according to the Guardian. The company plans to implement new PET/CT services in Swindon and Milton Keynes as part of a deal to improve patients' access to imaging.
