Icon Group has started work at Nuffield Health Cancer Centre London as part of an existing strategic partnership.
The move follows an August 2023 announcement in which the groups said they were planning a strategic partnership to deliver oncology services in the UK.
While Nuffield Health retain ownership of Cancer Centre London (CCL), Icon Group will be investing in technical capability, patient experience and medical leadership to support service development and increased patient access to the best possible cancer care at the centre.
The partnership at CCL will continue to see collaboration with consultants shared between CCL and Parkside Hospital. Day-to-day patient appointments and operations at CCL continue as normal.
Steve Gray, chief executive officer at Nuffield Health, said: “Our ambition for the partnership is to meet the rising demand for cancer care by expanding our oncology services and develop leading cancer care pathways in the independent sector.
“By combining Icon Group’s fantastic oncology research, innovation and investment expertise with our own connected healthcare experience across our hospital, fitness and wellbeing facilities in London, I believe both organisations can produce best-in-class cancer outcomes for more people.
“The Icon Group team is already working with our Cancer Centre London team to identify investment priorities and develop improvement plans that will see CCL reach its full potential.
“Over the coming months, we’ll be working with Icon Group to determine where we can invest in our existing cancer care services across the UK and expand into more places to reach more people as we fulfil our purpose of building a healthier nation.”
Mark Middleton, CEO at Icon Group, said: “Cancer Centre London has an outstanding reputation and we are delighted to be part of its future evolution.
“As part of this partnership, we have made a deep commitment to investing in technical capability, alongside medical and service leadership, to ensure CCL meets its full potential as a centre of oncology excellence.
“This is the first step in our combined commitment to increase access to cancer care closer to where people live across the UK.
“Internationally, radiotherapy is recommended in approximately 50% of cancer diagnoses however in the UK it is utilised in less than 30% of cases. Increasing access presents an enormous opportunity to make a real difference to cancer outcomes for patients across the region.
“We’re proud to be working with Nuffield Health to tackle the UK’s cancer burden.”