A groundbreaking cancer therapy company which has a branch in Wales has gone into liquidation. The Rutherford Health group operates a network of cancer and diagnostic centres in the UK including at its clinic in Newport.
The company announced on Monday, June 6, that an application has been made to place the Group into liquidation. A spokesman said a number of factors led to the decision including the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Newport branch was previously the only UK establishment where a more targeted form of radiotherapy, called proton beam therapy, was available. Rather than using X-rays, like the conventional form of radiotherapy, proton beam therapy uses tiny, positively charged particles to destroy tumour cells.
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In 2018, Simon Hardacre became the first person to have the pioneering treatment at the centre after he was diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer. Speaking at the time aged 56, the dad said he felt "privileged" and "very lucky" to receive it.
The company was established in 2015 and opened other centres in Northumberland, Liverpool and Thames Valley. More recently it opened the first community diagnostics centre of its kind in England, located in Somerset. The Group comprises a number of subsidiary companies including Rutherford Cancer Centres, Rutherford Diagnostics, Rutherford Innovations and Rutherford Estates.
Aside from proton beam therapy, its centres have offered patients radiotherapy, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, diagnostic imaging and supportive care services. An application will be made later in the week to appoint the Official Receiver (an officer of the Insolvency Service) as liquidator.
Staff at the group's centres were informed of the news on Monday and arrangements are being made to transfer patients to alternative facilities. A number of factors have contributed to the decision to place the company into liquidation, the company said.
The number of patients presenting to the cancer centres during the Covid-19 pandemic was severely impacted resulting in a critical lack of patient volume, a spokesman said. Rutherford Health group invested heavily in building its cancer centre network, one of the most advanced in Europe, and the cost of infrastructure combined with impacted patient flow presented extremely challenging trading conditions.
The group made efforts to increase patient flow by offering the NHS a not-for-profit national contract in addition to existing local contracts but this was not taken up. A process of informing patients is underway and the small number of locally commissioned NHS patients are being returned to their local NHS Trust to finish their treatment. You can get more Newport stories by signing up to our WalesOnline newsletter here
Sean Sullivan, chief restructuring officer and Interim CEO, said: “Rutherford Health has been committed to providing high quality care, and the past couple of years has proven to be an extremely challenging time for the business. Covid has been particularly damaging for us as fewer patients were presenting with side effects during the lockdowns, and as a result cancer diagnosis has been delayed and sadly, in many cases, missed. This has meant fewer cancer patients have been presenting to our centres.
“Added to that, the business had grown rapidly over recent years. It was a very expensive business to set up, with over £240 million of capital expenditure to build and develop the cancer centres across the country, however, unfortunately patient numbers have not matched that.
“We made several offers to the NHS, and whilst we secured some contracts they were insufficient and we have not been able to secure mechanisms to expedite process. This added to severe financial pressures on the business and we had no option other than to place the Group into liquidation. We are very proud to have been able to serve the community and cancer patients across the country."
