HEALTH bosses have moved swiftly to reassure cancer patients about the quality of treatment after a potentially damaging new report.

Cleveland was named as one of eleven areas in England which does not have a medical oncologist - a highly specialized cancer expert who has access to the latest chemotherapy drugs.

The report from the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) says there is a national shortage of medical oncologists and calls for more to be appointed.

While accepting that the regional cancer centre, at South Cleveland Hospital in Middlesbrough, cannot offer a medical oncologist to patients, Pat Keene, director of cancer service development with the Cancer Care Alliance, stressed that patients received a very high quality of care.

In fact, cancer patients referred to South Cleveland from South Durham, North Yorkshire and Teesside, have a relatively large number of cancer specialists to treat them.

"In Cleveland, we have seven cancer specialists for a population of one million, which compares well to many other areas, and we are planning to take on another two," said Mr Keene.

The seven consultants at South Cleveland Hospital are all clinical oncologists, specialists who have a knowledge of chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

But medical oncologists are specialists with a cutting-edge knowledge of the very latest chemotherapy drugs. They are usually to be found in centres where a lot of medical research is going on.

The growth of Teesside University and Durham University's Stockton campus has helped to raise the profile of the area as a place for reserch.

"In our five-year strategy we would certainly like to see medical oncology come on board. To do that, you need to have the right infrastructure," said Mr Keene.

One recent development at South Cleveland is the construction of a centre for holistic cancer care, which will give patients access to a wide range of complementary medicine