Drop Down Menu
  Search...
 

Seven year wait for NW cancer unit 14.03.08

A BUNCRANA-based councillor said he believes the cross-border satellite radiotherapy unit for the North West will happen but not until after 2015.
Cllr. Pádraig MacLochlainn welcomed the update but said he saw no reason why the people of the North West should have to wait more than seven years for the life-saving centre. He received the information following a written question to the North's Health Minister Michael McGimpsey by West Tyrone MP and MLA, Pat Doherty. Mr. Doherty had asked for the progress report on Mr. McGimpsey's communications on the issue with his counterpart in the Republic, Minister Mary Harney.
"In response, Mr. McGimpsey said he asked service commissioners to take forward the development of a business case for an increase in radiotherapy provision in the six counties that would ensure sufficient capacity to meet demand from 2015," said Cllr. MacLochlainn.
"Initial assessment of projected cancer incidence conducted by the department suggests that a combination of radiotherapy services in Belfast and a satellite radiotherapy centre in the North West would best meet the needs of
Cllr. Pádraig MacLochlainn
people in the region beyond 2015 and that the business case for this would be informed by his department's ongoing discussions with Mary Harney's department."
Cllr. MacLochlainn said while he now believed the Departments of Health, North and South, had accepted in principle the case for a satellite cancer centre in the North West, it was "unacceptable" patients would have to wait another seven years.
Return to > News