Send Gordon Brown a cancer unit reminder! - Tim's challenge to residents to prompt PM on local campaign

South Lakes MP Tim Farron is encouraging local people to give Prime Minister Gordon Brown a seasonal reminder of the campaign for a cancer treatment unit at the Westmorland General Hospital - and all it takes is a click on the Number 10 website!

Alongside the 8,000 petition signatures calling for a cancer unit in Kendal that Tim handed over to local health bosses in October, Tim also placed a petition on the Prime Minister's website at http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/KendalCancerUnit/

At the moment, the petition only needs another 158 signatories before the Prime Minister will be compelled to write to every person who has signed up and give the government's response to Tim's campaign for a cancer treatment centre in Kendal.

In South Lakeland, there are 30% fewer cancer patients referred for radiotherapy treatment than the national average. As a result, cancer survival rates in our area are lower than the national average. It is thought that one reason for the lower than average referral for treatment is the fact that our nearest cancer treatment unit is so far away in Preston.

Tim says, "Instead of sending Gordon a Christmas card this year I want local people to join me and send him a clear message that our area wants a cancer treatment centre.

"Cancer treatment can be incredibly tiring and can leave patients feeling extremely unwell. Having to make regular round trips of more than 100 miles to get treatment is not acceptable. I want to start 2010 with a guarantee that the unit will be built and that local people will not have to travel to Preston or Carlisle for vital treatment."