Wait for verdict on cancer treatment

10:20pm Wednesday 23rd July 2008

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CANCER campaigners will have to wait until Monday to find out if patients can have life-saving radiotherapy in Worcester.

The decision on whether to set up a local centre for the vital treatment was due to be taken behind closed doors today and won’t be announced until after the weekend.

The services could be based at Worcestershire Royal Hospital or Hereford County Hospital – or the existing service at Cheltenham could be expanded.

Commissioning directors from the three primary care trusts – who buy health services – will each vote. If they agree, the preferred option will be sent out to public consultation.

The consultation is expected to last 12 weeks and the final decision will have to be ratified by the Three Counties Cancer Network in December.

We reported in your Worcester News on Monday how local people want the new satellite centre to be built at Worcester so they do not have to travel.

If the unit is built in Worcester it will contain two linear accelerators which have to be housed in a high density bunker to protect the public from radiation.

However, information released by Worcestershire Primary Care Trust suggests between 20 and 30 per cent of cancer patients with complex needs will still have to travel to the cancer centre in Cheltenham.

The meeting to decide on the preferred option is to be held at a private club in Cheltenham. The meeting is not open to members of the public.