Radiotherapy Satellite Units
Tuesday, 20 October 2026
Contributions
Tim Farron (Westmorland and Lonsdale) (LD)Liberal Democrat
9. What assessment she has made of the adequacy of the availability of radiotherapy satellite units.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Mr James Frith)Labour
We want every cancer patient to benefit from high-quality radiotherapy regardless of where they live. There has always been a need to balance the objective of providing care closer to each person’s home with the imperative of maintaining access to the specialist expertise and technology needed for safe, effective treatment.
In south Cumbria, only 29% of cancer patients get radiotherapy. That is the lowest proportion in the country, and only 27% of them get that treatment within the 62-day target. That is all because my constituents have to travel to the excellent but far-too-distant Rosemere cancer unit at Preston, which involves daily gruelling round trips of up to four hours for weeks on end, effectively excluding many from treatment. This awful, unequal access costs lives. Will the Minister set out a plan for delivering new satellite radiotherapy units in areas such as mine, and will he meet me and our local hospital’s trust to help us to deliver our long overdue radiotherapy satellite unit at Kendal?
I am happy to meet the hon. Gentleman and his colleagues about this matter. A theme is developing of the demands on treatment in rural and coastal communities, where people are expected to travel further, particularly those facing radiotherapy. It is the responsibility of ICBs, supported by our national guidance, to strike the balance that I spoke of between population needs, geography and inequalities. I understand that there have been recent exchanges between him and his ICB. I am happy to have a conversation with him about that and to lean into what options are available hereafter.
Chris Vince (Harlow) (Lab/Co-op)Labour (Co-op)
Under this Government 250,000 people are being diagnosed within 28 days, which we should welcome, but we must recognise that there is more to be done. This morning I met representatives of Prostate Cancer UK. In fact, I played football against them—
Mr Gagan Mohindra (South West Hertfordshire) (Con)Conservative
Badly!
That is true, although we did win. They made the point that so many men in this country are still dying of prostate cancer because they are not coming forward soon enough, and we know that the impact is even greater on the black, Asian and minority ethnic community. What can the Government do to support wonderful charities such as Prostate Cancer UK to cut the number of men dying of prostate cancer?
It is an honour to have the opportunity to respond to the champion for Harlow. It also presents me with the opportunity to make clear that, contrary to reports over the summer, should men suspect that they have symptoms, they can go to their GP and seek a PSA—prostate-specific antigen—test for prostate cancer. This is the first Government to launch a men’s health strategy, and there is more information to come. I look forward to working with my hon. Friend and colleagues across the House who have a strong record on this matter.
Source: UK Parliament Hansard API. Debate ID: 5420664.