Specialist children’s cancer services for children living in south London and the south east of England are to transfer to Evelina London Children’s Hospital, with radiotherapy at University College Hospital, as had been planned.

This follows the secretary of state for health and social care being asked to ‘call in’ on where to base principle cancer treatment for children in south London and south east England last summer. To ‘call in’ a decision means that the secretary of state decides to examine a planned change to NHS services and decide whether to proceed with the proposal, modify it, or take other action.

Following this, the secretary of state informed the NHS that he had decided not to call in the decision taken by the leaders of NHS England (London and South East regions) in March 2024.

As a result, the move to Evelina London Children’s Hospital is to take place as planned. The move is not expected to happen before October 2026, and there will be no sudden changes to children’s cancer care in the meantime.

NHS London welcomes this news, as planning and preparations for the safe transfer of services will allow good progress to continue.