The Welsh Health Specialised Services Committee (WHSSC) has approved plans to bring proton beam therapy treatment to NHS patients in the region.
Proton Partners International has been given the green light to treat NHS patients at its flagship Rutherford Cancer Centre South Wales in Newport.
Professor Roger Taylor, senior clinical advisor and consultant clinical oncologist at the centre, said: “As a clinician who sees the effects of cancer and its treatment every day, it is great to see some NHS patients will be able to benefit from more-local treatment.
“Proton therapy is not a panacea for all types of cancer. However, we have seen where it can be beneficial in areas such as brain tumours or cancers of the spine or head and neck; and working with the NHS means that adult patients in Wales will now have an option to be treated closer to home.”
Jamie Powell, centre manager, added: “Providing access to the Rutherford Cancer Centres for NHS patients is something we have been working towards from day one in order to ensure that as many patients as possible throughout Wales can access this treatment closer to home.
“Increasingly proton therapy will support research opportunities and alliances with the life sciences sector in Wales and we look forward to welcoming our first NHS patients soon.”
And Dr Sian Lewis, managing director of the WHSSC, said: “Patients who require this highly-specialised treatment have complex and often rare conditions and it will be of great benefit to them if they can receive this treatment closer to home.
”We care greatly about commissioning the best services for people and will be working closely with the Rutherford Centre and our other partners to deliver the highest-quality care for our patients.”
The first private patient to receive high-energy proton beam therapy in the UK was treated at the facility in April of this year.