Second developer seeks to build radiotherapy facility

A SECOND developer is looking for planning permission for a private hospital with radiotherapy facilities in a region refused cancer services by the Government.

Harlequin Healthcare Properties is looking for planning from Waterford City Council for a 40-bedroom day hospital and radiotherapy unit on a 3.85-hectare site at Kilbarry in the city.

Just last week, Waterford County Council approved an alteration to the county development plan which will allow for a private hospital a mile away on the Cork road.

Opposition politicians said the second application for a hospital with radiotherapy facilities proves there is a need for such a service in the area and shows the government was wrong not to approve radiotherapy services at Waterford Regional Hospital.

Waterford Mayor Tom Cunningham said the provision by private investors of a radiotherapy unit would not absolve the Government of its duty of care to cancer patients in the south-east who must currently travel to Dublin or Cork for radiotherapy.

But he said that the proposal by Harlequin Healthcare Properties would be welcomed by all those who are anxious to see the medical infrastructure in the city extended.

“Taken along with the separate proposal from Dr Ken Patterson and Dr Mark Rowe for a similar facility at Butlerstown North just outside the city boundary, this proposal suggests that the private sector will be providing radiotherapy in Waterford long before the Government does,” the mayor said.

Meanwhile, one of the doctors behind the other proposed hospital on the Cork road said there simply isn’t enough business for two private facilities with radiotherapy in the region.

Dr Ken Patterson said the application submitted by his consortium was in first.

“We are confident that our project will receive due consideration from the planning authorities and we are ready to go ahead this summer,” he said.