Millions of pounds could be given to services to fight cancer across north and mid Essex.

The Government is to put an extra £100 million into NHS cancer services, Health Secretary Alan Milburn announced today.

The money will fund equipment to diagnose and treat cancer more effectively.

It will be spread across health authorities in England and mean that by 2004 all special CT scanners, used in the diagnosis of tumours, will be less than ten years old.

Colchester General Hospital had a new CT scanner in 1996. Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford also has one.

The hospitals may not need new scanners but they will be able to ask for money for other equipment, including computers to help calculate radiotherapy doses for patients.

A spokesman for the Eastern Region of the NHS said: "We do not know at this stage how much will go into particular authorities."

He said health trusts would have to bid for any new cash and equipment.

The Department of Health stressed that the £100 million announced today was new money. It will be on top of the £93 million to be given to help 200 hospitals with cancer diagnosis and treatment through the New Opportunities Fund.

It said the investment would support the Government's commitment to reducing outpatient waiting times for urgent cancer patients to two weeks.

Mr Milburn said: "Nobody pretends that this is the be all and end all. It isn't." He added that giving the NHS "the world-beating cancer care that we want to see" would take time, effort and resources.

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