CANCER patients in the north of the county are still taking stock of news that a single Essex site for specialised urology surgery is set to be based in Southend.

Last week a panel of experts recommended to NHS England that Southend Hospital would be the best place to site a state-of-the-art centre - with Colchester Hospital losing out in the bid.

The decision has, of course, left urology patients at Colchester Hospital wondering if they will have to traipse back and forth to Southend for their treatment.

However, health bosses have given reassurances the centre will deal only with the most complex cases.

The panel visited both hospitals during a detailed investigation into which hospital would be best placed to deliver a countywide service for up to two million people.

The main reason for the move is to ensure surgeons undertake enough complex urological cancer cases to maintain their clinical expertise and give specialised prostate, bladder and kidney cancer patients the best chance of survival.

The two hospitals currently deal with about 150 patients a year, but it is expected this figure will grow with a single centre as expertise increases and more specialised and pioneering treatments become available there.

Not everyone is convinced that the centre will be able to cope adequately with the needs of patients in the north of the county.

Annie Feltham, Colchester councillor responsible for business leisure and opportunity said: "We have been hoping Colchester would be awarded the centre. The aim is to provide high class urological cancer services for the whole of Essex.

"Whether it is in the north or the south a significant number of people will be disadvantaged geographically.

"I want to be convinced we would receive high quality care that is accessible. I need to see the plan to see how the centre in Southend would meet those objectives. I haven't seen a lot of detailed information about how they choose one site over another."

The victory for Southend was met with relief by campaigner in south Essex, but has disappointed patients in the north of the county.

John Davey, 68, from Stanway, who led a campaign for the specialist urology centre to be based at Colchester Hospital, had a successful operation there two years ago after being diagnosed with prostate cancer.

He said: "I am disappointed at the news really. If they are going to concentrate services in one hospital they are going to be so busy. I don't know how they are going to cope.

"The clinics at Colchester are very busy and when a more serious case comes in you have to wait a long time. If it's for just for special surgery though that would be fairer and would give more scope to do more expert surgical procedures. I wonder if Southend can cope with the extra demand though."

NHS England has not yet made a decision and will not finalise plans until further public consultation has taken place.

Southend patients are unsurprisingly relieved at the recommendation.

John Leuenberger was diagnosed with prostate and bladder cancer in February and received treatment at Southend Hospital.

Mr Leunberger, 73, of St Helen's Road, Westcliff, said: "It such a difficult place to get to from Southend. If they had chosen Colchester I would have opted to go to London for treatment as it's much easier to get to from here."

John Ball, 68, was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2012 and had brachytherapy treatment at Southend Hospital, where radioactive pellets are put into the prostate, but later went on to have more radical radiotherapy treatment.

Mr Ball, of Buckland, Shoebury said: "When I was being treated I was with a man who had been offered treatment in Ipswich or Southend and he chose Southend because they are so good there.

“The thing is these sort of cancers often affect the elderly the most, many of whom can’t drive because they have eyesight or other problems. Getting to Colchester would be really difficult for them.”

Sue Hardy, chief executive at Southend Hospital, said: “The recommendation will be made to NHS England later this summer following further engagement with the joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee. Further public engagement will take place in the autumn as part of NHS England’s decision making process, with the new service starting in April 2017.

“Subject to final agreement, I look forward to seeing our Specialised Urological Cancer Surgery expand to provide high quality care for patients across Essex over the next year.”