Health Minister Tony Ryall today opened Wellington Hospital's new high dose bracytherapy bunker for cancer treatment.
Having a new bunker means the bracytherapy service, which uses radiation to treat tumours, doesn't have to share facilities with a linear accelerator cancer treatment machine.
Previously, only one of the devices could be used at a time.
Mr Ryall also announced approval for a new linear accelerator (lineac).
"The new lineac will replaced a machine that is 13 years old and is part of the DHB's push to achieve the cancer treatment health target, where all patients referred for radiation oncology begin treatment within six weeks, and that is reducing to four weeks at the end of the year," he said.
"It's not okay to have New Zealand patients waiting 12 weeks or longer for their treatment as they have done in the not so distant past -- or for some patients to be forced to go to Australia for their cancer treatment."
Mr Ryall will tomorrow open Canterbury DHB's new linear accelerator service at Christchurch Hospital's cancer centre.
