The Rutherford Cancer Centre

Part of 4. Topical Questions – in the Senedd at 3:55 pm on 8 June 2022.

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Photo of Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan Labour 3:55, 8 June 2022

Thanks very much. Well, this is an issue that I was made aware of several weeks ago, so we've been, obviously, following the issue very closely and with the utmost concern for the people who are receiving their treatment there. Proton-beam therapy, as both speakers have been clear, is a very specialised approach to cancer treatment. The Welsh Government has no intention of intervening to purchase the facility. Obviously it's extremely specialised, and the reason we're doing this is because we don't think it's in the public interest. We simply don't have the population base to maintain that. 

So, we will keep an eye on the situation, of course. The company has five main centres. Four of these centres are not in Wales, so obviously it would have been difficult for us to go riding in on a white horse when actually there were much greater issues at play than simply saving the Welsh branch of Rutherford.