MY WIFE and I welcome the decision by our local hospital trust to seriously consider providing a radiotherapy unit to Kendal.

My wife has just completed a three-week treatment programme (15 weekday sessions) at Royal Preston Hospital, so we have experienced at first hand the stress and fatigue of driving around 90 miles a day on the M6 in a variety of weather conditions.

That said, the Rosemere Cancer Unit is first class. The staff are sympathetic, professional, friendly, reassuring and extremely patient.

I learned they have seven linear accelerators administering radiotherapy. Each costs around £1m and has a life of about 10 years.

Rosemere treats more than 200 patients each weekday. So, proportionately, one machine in Kendal could treat 30 cancer patients a day. It may not sound a lot, but as one radiotherapy programme ends for one patient, another begins. So there is a constant turnover.

Royal Preston does have a patient hotel, where patients and relatives, who have to travel, can stay overnight at no fixed charge. We booked in for one night each week, making it one journey less to drive.

I was surprised to read in local LibDem literature about a Kendal man being refused this accommodation because of his postcode. Kirkby Lonsdale is roughly as far from Preston as Kendal is, so perhaps he just asked the wrong person.

Bowland House is certainly worth asking about if you are a radiotherapy patient.

Allan Muirhead

Kirkby Lonsdale