Join our campaign to save a specialist cancer surgery centre

The National Institute for Clinical Excellence says cancer surgery centres should serve a population of at least 1million people – and that means there should only be one urology cancer surgery centre in Essex.

Bids for the service are due to be made next month and consultant urologist at Colchester General Hospital John Corr said he believes both Colchester and Southend will bid for it.

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We are supported by patients who have undergone urology cancer surgery in calling for the centre to be based at Colchester General Hospital.

They say the first class service must not be lost and they argue it is unreasonable to expect patients and their families, some of living in Clacton and Harwich, to travel 120 miles round trip for surgery in Southend.

Hundreds of thousands of pounds of investment has already been made for new specialist equipment at Colchester General Hospital. The hospital also has a team of surgeons offering specialist operations for urology cancer patients.

Mr Corr, the lead cancer surgeon for the northern division of the Essex Urology Cancer Network, who is based at Colchester General Hospital, said the hospital was well placed to become the centre of excellence.

He said Colchester General Hospital carried out more urological cancer operations than any other hospital in the county.

Crucially, it also has scope to take more.

Mr Corr said: “The guidance is that each centre should do at least 50 operations a year so we are already doing three times that number. It is the most of any hospital in Essex.

"Senior managers are behind us. We will have to develop a business-like application which includes demonstrating how we will take on the extra work and where we will find the space in the hospital. There are also staff implications.

"However, I am confident the surgery should be kept in Colchester.

"We would involve all the other adjacent hospitals in the pre-diagnosis and delivering services.

"The only thing which would change is the surgery being in one centre."

Urological surgery affects those with bladder, kidney or prostate cancer.

Colchester has five specialist kidney surgeons and three specialising in pelvic – bladder and prostate – surgery.

That compares to four urology cancer surgeons working in Southend.

Colchester surgeons also perform state-of-the-art laparoscopy – keyhole – surgery and the hospital was the first in the region to use HD 3D surgery.

Mr Corr said future plans for developing urology cancer surgery included looking into robotic surgery.

He said: “The surgeons here have also done specialist cancer surgery at centres across the world and we can offer everything which can be offered at any other centre in the country."

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IF urology cancer surgery is not centred in Colchester it could lead to the fragmentation of surgery across the eastern region.

The nearest centres able to cope with north Essex patients are in Norfolk and Cambridgeshire.

Mr Corr said Colchester is already in a position to take on more patients.

He said: "Investment has already been made in personnel and equipment. The trust has this year invested £250,000 in new equipment to allow us to do extra surgery in the Elmstead day unit."

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cancer surgery campaign PETITION.pdf

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cancer surgery campaign.pdf