Minister praises MP for “excellent” work on radiotherapy campaign

Local MP Tim Farron's campaign for better access to radiotherapy treatment for cancer patients has been praised by a Government minister in Parliament.

During a debate this morning on long term plans for cancer treatment in the NHS, the health minister Steve Brine said he "enjoyed" his meeting with Tim and the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Radiotherapy back in November and thanked them for their work promoting the treatment.

The minister also said that the group's manifesto for radiotherapy was an "excellent piece of work" and that he will be working to change the radiotherapy specification whilst listening to the APPG.

During the debate, Tim expressed his disappointment that the Government's new 10-year plan for the NHS announced nothing new for radiotherapy treatment and urged the minister to push NHS England to produce the results of the consultation on radiotherapy services which closed nearly a year ago.

Tim said: "I was delighted to hear the minister's positive response to our campaign and to the manifesto that our cross-party group has produced.

"But with 1 in 4 of us needing radiotherapy at some point in our lives, it was disappointing to see the Government airbrushing this life-saving treatment from their 10-year plan for the NHS.

"It's vital that the minister carries out today's promise that he will review the specification with our manifesto in mind so that people here in South Cumbria and across other rural parts of the country are able to receive radiotherapy closer to home."