Cancer patients in the New England North West will soon be treated closer to home thanks to the commitment of a new PET Scan to be delivered at the North West Cancer Centre in Tamworth.

Member for Tamworth Kevin Anderson congratulated local patients and advocates who have been advocating for the service, helping to end the practice of cancer patients having to travel long distances to access diagnosis and treatment.

“We’ve been building the case for a PET scan to be delivered at the North West Cancer Clinic for some time, working with local patients, advocacy groups, and Hunter New England Health,” Mr Anderson said.

“Many hours of advocacy and hard work went into delivering this important service so that cancer patients would no longer have to travel long distances to access diagnosis and treatment.

“Recently, I wrote to the new Minister for Health, updating him on all the information we had gathered, including the lived experience of local advocate Gary Norman.

“Mondays commitment to deliver a PET scan is welcome news for local advocates like Gary and for the many people who will use the service well into the future.”

Tamworth cancer survivor Gary Norman said it was an emotional moment when he first heard of the news.

“Bringing a PET scan to Tamworth has a multitude of positives. It will help people in pain, give them a diagnosis quicker, give them treatment quicker. It will save lives,” Mr Norman said.

“It’s great to be able to help people in this whole area and it’ll probably cost the health department a lot less.”

Cancer Council NSW Community Coordinator Shaen Fraser said the announcement was great news for cancer patients from the New England North West region.

“Cancer Council NSW is very pleased to hear the news. The need for a PET scan in Tamworth has been shown and it’s great to see the push continue,” she said.

Mr Anderson added that it was important that the new Health Minister Ryan Park acknowledged the tireless work of local advocates.

“The push for a Pet Scan in Tamworth has always been about the people and it was great to hear the Minister for Health and Regional Health Ryan Park acknowledge the grassroots advocacy of people in our community,” Mr Anderson added.