A new private cancer treatment centre opened in Christchurch which brought an end to the long wait of cancer patients in the South Island. The new St George's Cancer Centre in Christchurch will be the first private hospital in New Zealand to offer chemotherapy as well as radiotherapy treatment.

It is definitely going to ease waiting times in public hospitals. Some people have to wait for up to eight weeks for treatment.

The pressure on the machines in Christchurch and Dunedin hospitals will be taken off, as the centre has two $3.5 million linear accelerators for radiation therapy.

Chief Executive Tony Hunter said, “I'd expect that would drop away to literally only a matter of days or weeks once we're up and running within the next month or two”.

St George's as well as Auckland's Mercy Ascot is willing to lend their helping hand, if the public system gets prolonged.

Being a private hospital, one has to pay good money for getting treatment. For undergoing a radiation therapy for prostate cancer one has to spend $20,000-$30,000 and about $10,000-$80,000 for chemo for chemo, based on the kind of drug treatment needed. A lot of people will opt for private health insurance.