MP secures meeting with Health Minister over bringing radiotherapy to Kendal

In Parliament this week, South Lakes MP Tim Farron urged ministers to give the green light to a satellite radiotherapy centre at the Westmorland General Hospital in Kendal.

During a debate in Westminster Hall, Tim cited research undertaken by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Radiotherapy, which Tim chairs, which showed that for every time a new satellite unit opens, there is at least 20% more demand than was expected.

Tim also mentioned shocking new stats which showed that 3.5 million people live in 'radiotherapy deserts', where cancer patients live more than a 45-minute journey away from the nearest radiotherapy treatment centre.

The national radiotherapy advisory group says that any trust that allows that to happen is guilty of bad practice.

Speaking in Parliament, Tim said: "People in Kendal, Grange, Windermere, Kirkby Stephen, Appleby, Sedbergh, Ambleside, Coniston, Grasmere and the rest of our communities in rural Cumbria are facing not just longer journeys, but shorter lives. That is not acceptable.

"We are desperate for action in Westmorland. We are desperate to see our satellite radiotherapy unit delivered at the Westmorland General Hospital in Kendal. I ask the Minister to act personally now and look at our bid for a satellite unit.

"If he acts and instructs commissioners to get on with the business of commissioning, I promise that our community will raise at least £2 million to help him to make that case in a partnership bid. If he commits to helping people in Westmorland to have better treatment, shorter journeys and longer lives, I will be permanently, eternally grateful."

Responding, the Minister for Health and Secondary Care, Will Quince said: "The honourable Member for Westmorland and Lonsdale has been campaigning on the issue for around a decade, or perhaps longer, and he has met several Ministers.

"I am yet to meet with the honourable gentleman, and I know he was due to meet my honourable Friend the Minister for Social Care, but I am happy to honour that meeting.

"He recently met his local hospital trust to discuss radiotherapy being part of the new hospital programme. Ultimately, that is a matter for commissioners, but we can certainly have that conversation when we meet and try to find a way forward."