Cancer treatment unit campaigner slams construction delay and says lives are at risk while the region waits

A woman who was instrumental in getting funding for a cancer treatment facility in Albany has slammed Health Minister Roger Cook over delays which she says are putting lives at risk. Denmark’s Mary Williams has written an explosive letter to Mr Cook, saying cancer patients’ lives were at stake. Ms Williams, who campaigned for years for funding for the radiation service, has created a petition to fast-track its construction. The cancer service has been in the pipeline since 2017, when the Federal Government awarded $6.6 million to Genesis Cancer Care to develop a facility inAlbany. In March last year, the State Government pledged $13m to develop the facility at Albany Health Campus. In December, Mr Cook said the service was expected to be operational by early 2022, but it has since been pushed back to the second half of 2022. When the delays were announced in May, Mr Cook said the operation was “complex”. “The design and construction needs to protect the safety of patients and staff so they aren’t exposed to unnecessary radiation,” he said. He gave a similar response to questions from the Advertiser last month. “This is a complex piece of work that will be housing radioactive machinery — public safety needs to be the No.1 priority for the staff and patients using the service,” Mr Cook said last month. But Ms Williams said she did not accept that explanation. “The idea of this was to get it up and running as soon as possible,” she told the Advertiser. She claimed during a visit to Albany Health Campus in February, Mr Cook promised her construction would start by the end of the year. “Everyone else, including over east, who was given the money — their machines are up and running,” she said. “The plan has been pegged out, the feasibility study done, and as I am aware we are all ready to rock and roll,” she said. “The money is just sitting there.” A Health Department spokesman said the WA Country Health Service was working through the pre-tender estimate for forward works. Mr Cook was unavailable for comment. Ms Williams said she knew of people who had stopped travelling to Perth for treatment. “A lot of people are walking away from their treatment because they can’t do the travel anymore. It is hell,” she said. “This disease is too much to bear without having to worry about leaving your loved ones and worrying about your business, to travel all that way. “We shouldn’t be fighting for a lifesaving machine that should be up and running.”