Multi-million cancer centre planned

1:10pm Saturday 17th May 2008

Comments (0)   Have your say »

MULTI-million pound plans are being drawn up to increase radiotherapy provision at Cardiff's Velindre Cancer Centre, for patients across south east Wales.

Health bosses in Gwent are being asked to support proposals designed to meet an increasing demand for the treatment, the first of a series of developments which will involve creating a satellite treatment centre.

Gwent, with ambitious plans underway for a network of new hospitals, may be in line to host a satellite radiotherapy unit - but the initial focus will be on Velindre.

The proposal involves building two additional linear accelerators at Velindre, bringing the total to seven and boosting the capacity to deliver radiotherapy for all patients inside waiting times targets.

There have been problems in recent years with meeting the 31- and 62-day targets for beginning patients' cancer treatments.

The aim is to address these and provide extra capacity to meet a predicted increase over the next 10 years in the numbers of people requiring radiotherapy.

The exact cost of this first phase of development is yet to be determined, but looks set to be more than £5 million.

Wales' 16 Local Health Boards are being asked to approve the proposals, which will involve a commitment to paying an annually-increasing share of running costs.

This arrangement however, could be complicated by the plan to reduce the number of LHBs next year, and to relieve them of commissioning powers.

The final phase of plans to boost radiotherapy capacity in south east Wales involves establishing a satellite centre, with two linear accelerators.

Though a decision on the location of such a centre is unlikely for at least a couple of years, Gwent health bosses would be keen on hosting it, most probably at the planned Specialist and Critical Care Centre, centrepiece of an £800m hospital services modernisation programme.