The linear accelerator (LINAC) machines will enable up to 27,500 additional treatments per year by March 2027, including up to 4,500 first treatments for cancer within 62-days of referral.

The machines could also halve the number of hospital visits by each patient and save as many as 13,000 appointments from being lost to equipment breakdown.

Health and social care secretary, Wes Streeting said: ‘By reducing the number of hospital visits required and preventing cancelled appointments, these state of the art radiotherapy machines free up capacity so that thousands more patients are treated on time.'

The tech is being prioritised in hospitals which are currently using outdated treatment machines older than 10 years and  also increase the availability of Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy cancer treatments, which can more precisely target tumours.  

The new LINAC radiotherapy machines were allocated across England by Specialised Commissioning teams at NHS England, in a bid to improve health inequalities by ensuring every radiotherapy service has the modern equipment needed to offer innovative radiotherapy treatments.

The investment followed on from the Government rolling out 13 new DEXA scanners across the country which will allow 29,000 extra bone scans per year to be delivered for patients as part of the Plan for Change.