Rutherford Health has announced upcoming liquidation

The Rutherford Health group, known for forming and overseeing a network of specialist oncology centres across the UK have announced that they will be going into liquidation. The group is inclusive of a selection of subsidiary companies; Rutherford Cancer Centres, Rutherford Diagnostics, Rutherford Innovations, and Rutherford Estates. The Official Receiver, under the Insolvency Service, is to be appointed later this week.

This decision comes after strains put on the centre and the general public due to the pandemic meant that fewer patients were able to attend the centres, and the cost of such advanced and extensive networks put a significant financial burden on the group. Efforts to continue their work were made with the offer of a not-for-profit national contract with the NHS to support their cancer services and increase use of services by patients, however this was never adopted.

Treatments available to cancer patients at the Rutherford Cancer Centres include a range of advanced therapeutic techniques, including high-energy proton beam therapy, immunotherapy, alongside more widely used radiotherapy, chemotherapy, diagnostic imaging and supportive care.

Implications on existing patients include their return to the mainstream NHS centres for the continuation and completion of their treatment, a change in practitioner during a vulnerable period, and potentially a change in access to services that were previously available to them, as well as additional patient numbers for NHS oncology centres to manage.

“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.” – Rutherford Health Group Chief Restructuring Officer and Interim CEO, Sean Sullivan.

With the country still feeling the impacts of the pandemic on the NHS, and a backlog of medical procedures and consultations still being processed, not to mention those patients who may have otherwise reported to their doctor, or have been identified for referral and further assessment only presenting now with more advanced disease, or more significant disease burden as a result of unmet health needs, the true impacts of the pandemic on private services and the extent of any knock-on effects on the NHS are yet to be seen. Services such as those provided by Rutherford Health Group, who previously acted to provide healthcare to those with access to private healthcare, are also suffering the effects, and it is likely that we will continue to see a configuration of the healthcare system and private sector healthcare shift for the foreseeable future while the country recovers from Covid-19.