Royal Cornwall Hospital awarded £2.6 million for new radiotherapy equipment

The much-needed replacement of a second linear accelerator at the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro will be brought forward to this financial year, following an award of £2.61 million from NHS England’s national radiotherapy equipment replacement fund.

Already, one of RCHT’s old linear accelerators (LINACs) in the Sunrise Centre has been replaced in the last month, which is now being commissioned to rigorous clinical accuracy and regulatory safety standards before welcoming its first patient in September 2025.

The second linear accelerator will be installed in the Sunrise Centre before the end of March 2026, and will enable the hospital to further reduce waiting times for cancer patients through efficiency gains and better productivity offered by the new machines.

“We are delighted to have received funding for a second linear accelerator from NHS England’s National Capital Fund following our application in January this year,” says Savvas Rizkalla, Head of Radiotherapy Physics at RCHT. “Linacs are very clever and versatile medical devices, in that they use high-energy electron beams to treat cancers with pinpoint accuracy. Having not just one, but two, brand new state-of-the-art linear accelerators installed in the next 12 months will be a real game changer in helping us to reduce cancer waiting times in Cornwall and provide continued outstanding care to our patients.”