New £5m radiotherapy machine keeps patients in Wales

The investment will double the capacity for SBRT treatment at Velindre Cancer Centre in Whitchurch

Cancer patients who had to travel to England for specialist radiotherapy can now get their treatment in Wales after a £4.8m investment.

The money will pay for a second stereotactic body radiotherapy treatment (SBRT) machine at Velindre Cancer Centre in Cardiff.

The machine targets tumours, but causes less damage to surrounding healthy tissue.

The funding will allow the hospital to offer twice as many people SBRT.

Health Minister Mark Drakeford said there had been an 8% increase in the number of courses of radiotherapy given at the centre in the past two years and a 10% rise in the number of attendances for treatment.

He said the new machine, which replaces an older model, would help the centre meet this demand and would see fewer people having to travel to Sheffield for treatment.