THE Western Trust’s new state of the art Radiotherapy Centre based at Altnagelvin may be on course to be opened to the public this Autumn, but hopes for an improvement to the road network to get there from Fermanagh seem as far away as ever.


A public inquiry into the multi-million pound A5 Western Transport Corridor (WTC), between Aughnacloy and Londonderry is expected some time this year.


That will come as cold comfort, however, to cancer patients in this county facing the journey to Altnagelvin for treatment.
According to the Trust, the opening of the new Radiotherapy Centre will mean that 90 per cent of patients in Northern Ireland will be within one hour of a Radiotherapy facility.


But according to Colin Greaves, a driver for the Palliative Transport Service in Enniskillen, the journey to Londonderry takes just as long as it does to Belfast.


“I take people to both Belfast and Altnagelvin,” he says before adding. “The road to Belfast might be 20 miles more, but it takes just as long to get to Derry as it does Belfast.”


Mr. Greaves believes, if given the choice, most people would choose the road to Belfast over Londonderry any day.
“That road [to Londonderry] is not great. I would normally go the Scraghey Road --  Ederney, Castlederg, Victoria Bridge and then on to Strabane and Londonderry. But others go by Omagh which is a bit longer again.
“There are very few passing places on that road. It is a very frustrating drive.


“When I was a student I stayed up in Derry. That road is not much better now than it was back then and that was quite some time ago!
“It is about an hour and a half to get up there.
“I would have thought people would have liked to see a bit more progress on the road before the Radiotherapy Centre opened. It is just not the easiest road to contend with.


“I take chemotherapy and radiotherapy patients on three runs a month, some times four and most people from here go to Belfast to be honest.
“You tend to get radiotherapy treatment every day for a while, so a lot of people would opt to go up to Belfast on the Monday and stay up there until the Friday afternoon so they don’t have to travel every single day. 
“Of course, there are other people who would prefer to come home again and be with their family. It’s their choice.


“When its chemo, you tend to go up every three to four weeks,” concluded Colin.


A spokeswoman for the Trust said overnight stay facilities will be available to patients when the Radiotherapy Centre opens its doors later this year.
“Plans are progressing to have overnight stay facilities made available to radiotherapy patients travelling distances in excess of one hour,” she said.


She added: 
“The additional radiotherapy capacity provided when the new radiotherapy service commences at Altnagelvin Hospital ensure that treatment is available closer to the majority of patients in Northern Ireland ie, approximately 90 per cent of patients will live within one hour’s travelling time of a radiotherapy facility.


“Detailed work is ongoing with colleagues within the Northern Ireland Cancer Network to ensure that safe patient flows and treatment pathways are in place for the commencement of the new service at Altnagelvin.”