New radiotherapy machine for city hospital

A Lincolnshire hospital is to get a new radiotherapy machine.

Lincoln County Hospital will receive the linear accelerator (Linac) machine as part of a national investment programme.

The equipment can cut the number of rounds of radiotherapy needed by patients and reach cancer in harder-to-treat areas such as the chest, the abdomen and the pelvis.

Nationally, up to 27,000 extra rounds of treatment could be delivered using the machines by 2027, the government said.

NHS national clinical director for cancer Prof Peter Johnson said: "Radiotherapy is essential for many cancer patients, so it's great news that the investment in new machines means that some will need fewer rounds of treatment as we bring in more sophisticated techniques.

"These machines will deliver more precise treatment for patients, which helps them to recover sooner, as well as enabling the NHS to treat people more efficiently as we continue in our efforts to catch and treat more cancers faster."

The 28 hospitals to benefit under the £70m investment programme were selected because they use Linac machines more than 10 years old.

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