£14m development set to transform diagnosis of cancer

WORK has started on a £14 million development at Singleton Hospital that will transform the diagnosis of cancer and some other conditions.

- JAMES ARNOTT

Highly specialised PET-CT scanning was introduced at the Swansea hospital in 2020, avoiding the need for people from the Swansea Bay and Hywel Dda areas having to travel to Cardiff.

A PET-CT scan combines computed tomography (CT) and positron emission tomography (PET) scans. It can reveal cancer and some other diseases which may not show up on other types of scans.

Its accuracy means it can diagnose cancer, find out how big a cancer is and whether it has spread.

It can also show how well a cancer has responded to treatment and whether it has come back - and, if so, exactly where it is.

However, the Singleton scanner is on a mobile unit which has limited the range of services and operating days but that is set to change.

Swansea Bay's head of nuclear medicine, Professor Neil Hartman, said the new building to house the scanner would make a significant difference to patient care.

"For the first time we will be able to do paediatric PET scanning," he said.