New patient services Australia wide

Patients at Gosford Hospital will benefit from $1.6 million in additional funding to replace the hospital’s cardiac catheterisation laboratory, according to a news report from Coasting. Cardiac catheterisation laboratories are used for the treatment and diagnosis of coronary artery disease – Australia’s single most deadly disease.

Cardiac catheterisation angiography is a minimally invasive procedure in which the chambers of the heart are accessed by a catheter. It is used as both a diagnostic and treatment tool. Gosford Hospital provides more than 1,100 episodes of care a year, and enables local residents with heart problems to access cardiac catheterisation services closer to home.

Home Away from Home for cancer sufferers around the ACT

$1.8 million will be provided by the Government to construct an accommodation facility for patients and carers who will use the new Capital Region Cancer Centre in Canberra.

The units will enable cancer patients and their carers, who have travelled to the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) for treatment, to stay at the hospital while receiving treatment. This will particularly benefit families across south-east New South Wales (NSW).

Five new units will be constructed; two single units and three twin units, all with ensuite, kitchenette and lounge/dinning room facilities.

Common areas proposed for inclusion include play area, meeting room and laundry.

This regional cancer centre will provide better services to people in the ACT and across south-east NSW.

The Canberra centre is part of a planned network of regional cancer centres that expands services and links with specialised cancer centres in metropolitan areas, to better support and service all Australians and help close the gap in cancer outcomes between urban and regional Australians.

Breast cancer lifesaver for Cairns women

Waiting times for breast cancer screening services will be cut dramatically with the opening of a new  diagnostic clinic in Cairns, according to the Cairns Post.

With 15,000 women undergoing breast screening in the far north last year, the new clinic, together with state-of-the-art equipment will cut screening times to just 10 minutes.

The new privately run breast clinic, open to both public and private patients, has started testing its first patients.

It is hoped the clinic will reduce waiting times and stop the need for patients to travel from Cairns for scans.

Waiting times have previously blown out to three months for a mammogram, in some cases forcing patients to fly as far away as Melbourne for a diagnosis