It is likely the Southern District Health Board's new linear accelerator will not be fully operational until the end of the year, but a second new machine should be quickly up and running soon after, the DHB says.
The troubled accelerator replacement project received a boost on Sunday when the Government announced it would provide support to the board to fully commission the first machine, a vital tool for doctors treating cancer.
Power supply issues with the machine are among problems which have created major delays.
Yesterday, board executive services director Patrick Ng said the power supply problem had not affected the accuracy of radiation treatment as the machine had not been used to treat patients until that issue had been rectified.
However, only two-thirds of the machine's features had been commissioned so far, and the support announced on Sunday would mean the accelerator's full capacity would eventually be used.
"A work programme is being developed to complete the commissioning of the remaining features, and we hope to have the commissioning completed by the end of the year.''
The lessons learnt from installing the first machine should mean the commissioning of the second accelerator would run more smoothly, Mr Ng said.
The board is trying to bring its radiation oncology waiting list back to normal levels after having around 100 extra patients added to it in April and May.
Government-set health targets are for DHBs to see cancer patients within three months, but the most recent Ministry of Health figures show the board only hit that target 73.9% of the time. Mr Ng said the SDHB waiting lists were now back to near normal levels.
