Cancer patients to be flown to Rome after faults found in radiotherapy machines

Cancer patients receiving radiotherapy in Malta will be recategorised according to the severity of their case, with the most urgent cases to be sent to a foreign hospital, after a malfunction in the linear accelerators at the Sir Anthony Mamo Oncology Centres.

Last Monday, the health ministry confirmed that radiotherapy services had to be temporarily suspended after technical difficulties among the linear accelerators. 

MaltaToday is informed that patients impacted by the suspension will be categorised depending on the severity of their case, with the most urgent cases to be referred to a foreign hospital to receive their radiotherapy there. 

A ministry spokesperson confirmed to MaltaToday that seven patients, considered as priority, will be flown to a hospital in Rome on Wednesday. Government will be funding all travel and lodging for the patient and for an accompanying person. 

Another tranche of patients is expected to be flown out the day after.

In a press statement on Monday, the ministry said that the centre's technical team established that the damage is reparable, with preparations underway to carry out the necessary repairs. 

But MaltaToday understands that the issue is down to human error, after problems with the air conditioning system led to an overheating of the linear accelerators. 

A medical linear accelerator is the device most commonly used for external beam radiation treatments for patients with cancer. It delivers high-energy x-rays or electrons to the region of the patient's tumour.

The ministry also announced an internal inquiry board has been setup to determine what led to the faults.

The Sir Anthony Mamo Oncology Centre received its first cancer patients for radiotherapy in 2015 after being fitted with two state-of-the-art linear accelerators that cost some €20 million.