SOUTHEND and Basildon Hospitals are set to receive a slice of £200million funding for new cancer screening equipment.

The hospitals are among the 78 trusts awarded funding to “replace, refurbish and upgrade” CT and MRI scanners.

The latest state-of-the-art equipment will treat patients using lower radiation levels.

New breast screening imaging and assessment equipment will also be provided with the funding, which has not been specified.

The new machines will be easier to use, quicker to carry out scans and will reduce the need to rescan patients.

Mid and south Essex hospitals are undergoing major changes in a shake-up of the way local healthcare is delivered.

This includes the formation of specialist centres.

Southend Hospital has been designated as a specialist cancer centre so will benefit from the funding.

Tom Abell, Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Transformation Officer, said: “We’re pleased to hear that our hospitals group will benefit from this investment, and that patients across mid and south Essex will have access to state-of-the-art machines that will improve screening and early diagnosis of cancer.

“Replacing some of our older CT and MRI scanners with new cutting-edge equipment further enhances the improvement plans we have in place for radiology service across our hospitals over the next few years.”

This new equipment also brings new capability, with many machines enabled for artificial intelligence.

Each trust has been allocated funding for new machines based on an assessment of local infrastructure and local population need.

They will all contribute to the NHS Long Term Plan’s goal of catching three-quarters of all cancers earlier when they are easier to treat.

Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock said: “This new state-of-the-art equipment for 78 trusts across England it will ensure doctors and clinicians can help even more people survive a cancer diagnosis and stop the disease as early as possible.

“It’s mission critical that the technology our NHS uses to prevent and diagnose cancer is brought into the 21st century.

“We have backed the roll-out of these new machines with £200 million in funding, as part of our long term plan, backed by an extra £33.9 billion a year.”