Free skin cancer clinic opens in Melbourne
A Melbourne hospital has opened Australia’s first free skin cancer triage clinic to reduce huge waiting lists, amid fears that life-threatening lesions are going undiagnosed.
The St Vincent’s Hospital service will save lives by allowing 5,000 people a year to have their skin checked by specialists, bypassing waiting lists that have blown out to as much as seven months.
Early detection is vital and dermatologists expect to be inundated when the new service is up and running.
People will need a GP’s referral. Those with life-threatening abnormalities will be treated immediately.
The clinic is expected to ease the significant cost to the public health system caused by the cutting out of 720,000 non-cancerous lesions every year.
A team of two dermatologists and two registrars will staff the Federal Government-funded project, with plans to expand the service if demand is high.
