Edwin Poots tells the Sentinel why he gave cancer centre green light

MY first priority as Health Minister was to reach a decision for the people of the North West on the future of the Altnagelvin radiotherapy unit.

The people of the city of Londonderry have campaigned long and hard for fair and equitable access to cancer service support in their region.

And after proper consideration of all the facts and after hearing the opinions of all those involved, I have come to the right decision. It will go ahead as proposed.

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We must never be complacent about cancer. It’s a terrible illness which can often bring devastating consequences for patients as well as their families and friends.

In Northern Ireland, some 8,500 people are diagnosed with cancer each year. That works out at one person, every hour of every day. And the incidence of cancer is expected to increase.

Our health service must not only have the full range of drugs and treatments available to combat these diseases, but the infrastructure to facilitate that work.

It should be there to support and provide care when people’s lives are at risk. There is no more compelling argument than that.

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On my second day as health minister, I visited Altnagelvin hospital. I wanted to see and hear for myself the reasons for establishing a radiotherapy unit in the North West.

It was hearing some of the stories direct from patients that made the most powerful case for the new local unit. One patient had to travel seven hours to and from Belfast on a cold winter’s day for just 10 minutes of treatment!

That’s just not conducive to recovery. Listening and speaking with patients, nurses, doctors and other staff gave me a much clearer understanding of how much this centre is needed.

And I know this decision will have a very real and human impact on all the people of the North West. So having given thorough and careful consideration of all the facts, I have made an informed decision to go ahead.

Put simply, it is a decision that makes good sense.

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Construction of the £56m satellite centre is expected to be completed by 2015 and the unit itself to be operating fully by mid-2016.

This means that Northern Ireland will continue to have cancer units in Antrim, Craigavon and the Ulster hospitals. Belfast City Hospital remains the regional cancer centre but Altnagelvin will be enhanced to a satellite radiotherapy unit.

The journey for a patient suffering from cancer can be extremely difficult. It may involve surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy as well as all the emotional trauma of suffering such a debilitating illness.

That’s why it is essential that, as health minister, I do all I can to enable patients to get the best possible treatment in fit-for-purpose, local locations.

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The establishment of the new centre in Londonderry will mean that 90 per cent of patients in Northern Ireland will be within one hour of a radiotherapy service.

This will have a massive impact on patients, their families and friends – enabling more people to have local access to the timely, specialised treatment they need.

The new centre will also boost radiotherapy capacity across the province helping to relieve capacity pressures at Belfast City hospital.

Our Health Service does face great challenges – now and over the coming years. We face major budget issues but that will not stop me from doing what is right.

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I have made provision for some £56million to be made available for building the Altnagelvin centre and an additional £9million for running costs.

The authorities in the Republic of Ireland have given firm assurances that they will fully fund their share of the costs which includes some €19m towards the capital costs of the project.

This has been the right decision to make. Radiotherapy is one of the most effective means of beating cancer and having a new regional facility in Londonderry will have a positive impact on the local area. This is good news – not just for the North West - but for the whole of Northern Ireland.