Ministerial Statement

CANCER SERVICES REVIEW

The Hon. J.D. HILL (Kaurna—Minister for Health, Minister for the Southern Suburbs, Minister Assisting the Premier in the Arts) (16:28): I seek leave to make a ministerial statement.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.D. HILL: In December last year I commissioned the SA Council for Safety and Quality in Health Care, led by chairman Mr Hans Ohff, to review auditing and quality assurance systems in cancer services offered throughout the state's public hospitals. I ordered this review following two incidents which emerged last year: the under-dosing of some radiotherapy at the Royal Adelaide Hospital and incorrect chemotherapy dosages at the Women's and Children's, Modbury and Lyell McEwin hospitals.

While independent clinical reviews confirmed that these incidents did not cause significant clinical effects, I believed it was important to review our auditing systems in cancer across the state. Today, I have tabled the report of the review. The report contains 12 recommendations, including: improvement in governance and organisation of cancer services at a regional and state level; a more structured process around continuous review and improvement of clinical care; standardised protocols and procedures across cancer services; the improved credentialling of cancer specialists; and better use of incident management reporting in cancer services.

The report also recommends the full implementation of the statewide cancer control plan. The plan is South Australia's blueprint for a coordinated and strategic cancer service for all South Australians and is currently being rolled out by SA Health. I have asked SA Health to take immediate action to ensure that the recommendations are implemented. Many of the recommendations have already been implemented or are in train. Importantly, none of the recommendations indicate shortcomings in patient care. All of the recommendations are focused on governance, incident management and reporting and staff credentialling.

Today, I have also tabled the state's latest cancer statistics in a report by SA Health, Cancer in South Australia 2006. Sourced from data from the South Australian Cancer Registry, the annual report provides us with statistics on cancer detection and mortality, guiding us in trends and helping in the planning of cancer services. The report tells us that the most common cancers in South Australia are prostate, breast, colorectal, lung and melanoma.

In 2006, there were 8,592 new cases of cancer diagnosed and 3,436 cancer deaths in South Australia. Cancer incidence in some areas was on the rise (including prostate, breast, colorectal and melanoma) due to increased screening of the community. The report also tells us that for two key cancers, prostate and breast cancer, the mortality rates have dropped over the past 15 years.

What this report indicates is that early detection of cancers and new and innovative treatment of cancers over the past decade has led to much better outcomes for people with this insidious disease. The very good work of our world-class cancer services across our hospitals is also contributing to this much better outcome for patients.

I would like to take this opportunity to commend the excellent clinical staff working across our cancer services. I also wish to reassure South Australians that their cancer services are among the very best in the world. I have tabled both these reports.