NHS Supply Chain has placed an order for 20 TrueBeam machines from Varian Medical Systems as part of a programme to replace older machines and roll out modern radiotherapy and radiosurgery treatments for patients in the UK’s public hospitals.
The order follows a successful programme that last year saw ten TrueBeam systems delivered to radiotherapy departments across the country. “This is an important deal which enables the NHS to modernise its base of linear accelerators to provide technologically advanced cancer treatments, as well as shorten treatment times,” said Andy Brown, managing director of business solutions at NHS Supply Chain. The TrueBeam system is equipped with a high dose delivery rate that enables some treatments to be completed more quickly than was possible with earlier generations of radiotherapy technology. According to NHS Supply Chain, there are approximately 300 linear accelerators in NHS hospitals and as many as 100 of these are over ten years old.
