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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2013-06-05 Daily Xml
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COUNTRY HEALTH

The Hon. G.A. KANDELAARS (15:32): In the past week I have had the pleasure of representing the Minister for Health, the Hon. Jack Snelling, at the opening of the purpose-built South Coast District Hospital chemotherapy unit at Victor Harbor and also the Naracoorte Health Service chemotherapy unit. Historically, chemotherapy has been provided in a range of health services across the Country Health SA Local Health Network, inclusive of doctor's surgeries and day centres.

State and national guidelines identified that chemotherapy needs to be provided in a safe and secure environment, ensuring the safety of patients, staff and the environment, given the potent drugs that are typically used in chemotherapy treatment. The construction of the South Coast District Hospital and Naracoorte chemotherapy units has been funded through the federal and state government Regional Cancer Centres initiative, which is improving access to best practice cancer services for rural and regional patients.

These units are two of 10 units funded under this initiative being established across regional South Australia, along with the $69 million Regional Cancer Centre in Whyalla. The units will play an integral part in building a world-class cancer care system in this state. This is in addition to the chemotherapy unit already planned for Berri and the chemotherapy unit already in existence at Port Pirie. Kingscote and Ceduna have since been added due to their geographic isolation and are to be funded through the state government, bringing the total number of sites to 15.

In order to meet the statewide and national safety standards and due to the risk associated with chemotherapy administration, chemotherapy in rural sites will only be delivered within the 15 designated health services and will be opened in a staged process with completion planned for 2014. This has also meant that the registered nurses who administer treatment at these centres have undertaken a mandatory statewide chemotherapy administration education program to enable them to administer the chemotherapy.

Both the South Coast District Hospital and Naracoorte Health Service chemotherapy units, which I had the pleasure of opening, will provide infusion, transfusion, chemotherapy and supportive services. Patients will also be able to have their oncology appointments using the Digital Telehealth Network system. The South Coast District Hospital chemotherapy unit has six chemotherapy chairs and will be able to treat up to 12 patients a day, whilst the Naracoorte Health Service chemotherapy unit has four chairs that will be able to treat up to eight patients a day.

These units have been established to meet all the statewide and national standards in chemotherapy and cancer service provision ensuring safe service for patients and also staff. Both units will allow local residents to access services closer to home alleviating the difficulty associated with regular travel to metropolitan Adelaide for treatment and oncology appointments. This gives patients a better quality of life and helps them to deal more effectively with the challenges of their treatment.

Provision of such services locally helps all healthcare services, reducing the demand on metropolitan health units and providing a better experience for those who need chemotherapy. I would like to acknowledge the many individuals who have assisted in the establishment of the South Coast District Hospital chemotherapy unit and the Naracoorte Health Service chemotherapy unit. These services have been embraced by the local community and this has been validated by the assistance that the local community has provided in ensuring these services have been established.

I spoke with one patient yesterday who regularly had to attend the Mount Gambier Hospital for his chemotherapy, and this has been a godsend to him for various reasons in terms of travel etc., so I commend the government for this initiative. It is a great initiative that ensures that stress is minimised when people are going through their treatment.

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