SDLP Foyle MP Mark Durkan has requested for an update on the development of Altnagelvin’s proposed Radiotherapy Centre.

In one of the letters to Health Minister Michael McGimpsey, Mr Durkan has laid stress on the need for progress on the new local cancer unit.

Mr Durkan said: “While there is a pressing need to address cancer services here in Derry, this facility can offer closer service to patients across the wider Northwest. It will also help deliver capacity in the cancer treatment service for the whole of Northern Ireland by absorbing expected demand that otherwise will be faced by Belfast. The cancer strategy should not be considered as a geographical issue, but must be seen as a means of providing care that is tailored to patients and their families.”

Patricia Dutton, who had to undergo four weeks of radiotherapy in Belfast, said that making such a long journey every day added to the stress of treatment.

"It was just hard going. Radiotherapy leaves you very tired anyway and I had to leave my daughter with my mother," she said.