20/11/2009

Devon County Council's Health Scrutiny Committee today agreed to write to the Secretary of State to present their concerns about the imminent transfer of minimally invasive surgery (MIO) as part of upper gastrointestinal (GI) cancer services, from Exeter's Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital to Plymouth's Derriford Hospital.

The independent public Committee has responsibility to scrutinise the actions of Devon's health and social care authorities and challenge them where it feels that their actions are detrimental to the public.

The Committee has been closely following NHS Devon's decision to reconfigure the services, since debate began about MIO in March this year.

Today, still unconvinced by NHS Devon that any transfer could be done within their time frame, and with a lack of assurance that the transfer would not mean a loss of the acclaimed MIO from Exeter, the Committee agreed to write with their concerns to the Secretary of State for Health, Andy Burnham.

The Committee however acknowledged that they are not against a reconfiguration of the services in principle, but they felt that they could not support NHS Devon's current proposal.

By a majority decision, the Committee resolved to ask the Secretary of State to ensure that MIO remains available for patients at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital until such a time as Derriford Hospital is ready and proven capable of delivering the surgery successfully on site.

"We trust", read the resolution, "that this will ensure no loss of this valuable cancer treatment option for patients in the Peninsula."

The Chairman of the scrutiny Committee, Cllr Richard Westlake, said:

"I would like to see a clear statement from the Minister on MIO surgery, so that the issues effecting the transfer of MIO surgery from Exeter to Plymouth can be resolved by the January deadline."