Cancer unit ayear late

RADIOTHERAPY services in Belfast will be full to capacity in the year before a vital new satellite centre in Londonderry is operational, the Health Minister Edwin Poots has revealed.

By The Newsroom

Published 29th Sep 2012, 12:46 BST

Two years ago the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (DHSSPSNI) said it anticipated that the cancer centre at Belfast City Hospital would be at capacity by 2015.

It was hoped work on a new radiotherapy centre at Altnagelvin would begin this year with a projected opening date of 2015 to take the pressure off Belfast.

However, Health Minister Edwin Poots has confirmed work on the facility will begin next year and that it is scheduled to become operational in 2016.

“The business planning process for the establishment of a radiotherapy unit at Altnagelvin is well advanced. It has taken full account of the capacity needed to accommodate Donegal patients. Construction will commence in 2013 with an operational date in 2016, so we are still on time,” said Mr Poots.