People power wins out for cancer unit

PEOPLE power has won out in Waterford and the south east, according to campaigners for radiotherapy at Waterford Regional Hospital (WRH).

Tánaiste and Health Minister Mary Harney gave her strongest indication yet that a public private partnership (PPP) deal to provide radiotherapy at WRH will be given the go-ahead next month as she visited Waterford yesterday.

“I have been giving this issue some consideration over the past weeks, since I received the Hollywood Report. It is my intention in the month of July to make an announcement about the National Radiotherapy Strategy.

“I am very mindful of the concerns in Waterford and the inconvenience caused to cancer patients who have to travel to Dublin. In the decision I will be making, I will be very much bearing that in mind,” she said.

The Minister added that there was a capacity issue in radiotherapy nationally and it was the government’s duty to ensure that cancer patients all around the country had access to radiotherapy.

“We have to increase the capacity nationwide, way beyond what it is. We have to look in an imaginative way at how we can service the needs of patients and that is the main concern I will bring to bear in the decision I will be delivering shortly.”

Mayor of Waterford Cllr Seamus Ryan met with the Tánaiste, as did the chairman of the radiotherapy committee, Dick Roche. Both were very heartened to hear what the Minister had to say.

“The Minister did say to us that our concerns regarding the location of the radiotherapy facility and the issue around public patients will be alleviated. It was a very positive meeting and we await now the announcement in July,” said the Mayor.

Campaign chairman Dick Roche was also very confident that a PPP would be announced for the region within the next few weeks.

“It’s a victory for all the people who campaigned so hard on this,” he said vowing the public campaign would continue

A march for radiotherapy planned for Dungarvan went ahead as planned yesterday afternoon.