A RETIRED cancer specialist has called for health bosses to have a rethink ahead of an expected decision today that will see vital services moved from Ipswich Hospital.

Lizzie Parry

A RETIRED cancer specialist has called for health bosses to have a rethink ahead of an expected decision today that will see vital services moved from Ipswich Hospital.

Terence Mott, a former consultant radiotherapist and oncologist, worked closely with the head and neck team at Heath Road before his retirement in 1999.

Suffolk Primary Care Trust (PCT) is today expected to recommend these services are transferred from Ipswich to the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital to comply with government-led Improving Outcomes Guidance (IOG).

Mr Mott said: “This is nonsense. I have been reliably informed that there is no good reason within the IOG regulations to relocate the head and neck services.

“The very purpose of the PCT is to protect the health of Suffolk residents. Why do they want to lose one of the jewels in their crown?”

“When I came to work in Ipswich as a radiotherapist, it was before the time when reconstructive surgery became an option and so I was very involved with head and neck cancer.

“To see all the hard work that the department has done over the years, it is a shame to see everything we did go to waste.”

The relocation of the casualty department at Ipswich Hospital to the newly opened Garrett Anderson Centre prompted Mr Mott to question the proposals for the transfer.

“As I understand it a first class casualty unit should have a maxillofacial department within the hospital on the same site,” he said. “It is not government guidelines but it is normal practice for hospitals and to me it seems silly not to have the facility on site.

“We can only hope that the next Health Scrutiny Committee will reject the transfer proposals, otherwise some sort of legal review seems inevitable.”

A spokeswoman for Suffolk PCT said the trust would be discussing Anglia Cancer Network's recommendations at its public board meeting today.

“Lord Darzi has said that services should be kept local where possible and centralised where necessary to ensure that patients get the best possible care and treatment,” she said.