Tasmania Opposition Leader Will Hodgman

Tasmania Shadow Minister for Health Brett Whiteley

LIBERALS TO HELP MAKE CARE EASIER FOR CANCER SUFFERERS 

Victor P Taffa

Tasmania Opposition Leader Will Hodgman and Shadow Minister for Health Brett Whiteley have announced that a Hodgman Liberal Government will create 10 new positions for Cancer Care Coordinators across all regions of the State.

The Liberals have committed $1.729 Million over three years for the positions which will make it easier for cancer patients, their families and carers to navigate their way through the health system.

Opposition Leader Will Hodgman said:

A Cancer Care Coordinator works direct with patients and their families by providing practical help and support, and coordinating all levels of cancer care and treatment.

Being diagnosed with cancer is frightening enough, but the prospect of not knowing who to turn to for advice, who to ask for support and what support is available, where to go for treatment and other health services, and coordinating all of that while unwell, can add to the distress for patients and their families.

A Cancer Care Coordinator relieves patients and families of this burden by coordinating everything from appointments and referrals, to treatments, support for patients and families, to information and advice on nutrition during treatment to transport options. Because every person’s experience with cancer is different, the role of the Coordinator varies according to the patient’s needs and wishes and the complexity of care required.

With the Coordinator helping with referrals, coordinating appointments, visiting the patient and dealing sympathetically with their needs, and acting as the central contact point for all health professionals in the cancer care team, a lot of stress can be removed from an already stressful situation.

Coordinators also help to ensure a patient experiences no unnecessary delays and gets timely access to treatment.

Cancer Care Coordinators are in line with best practice cancer treatment overseas and interstate, and under a Liberal Government will operate in all regions of the State to provide comforting help to cancer patients in Tasmania.

TAS Shadow Minister for Health Brett Whiteley

Shadow Minister for Health Brett Whiteley said:

The benefits to patients, health services and cancer care teams from Cancer Care Coordinators are numerous and proven.

They include improved patient outcomes (when patients get the right care at the right time), improved use of recommended treatments, improved communication between health providers, decreased duplication and reduced costs over time.

The establishment of cancer care coordinators is recommended in the 2009 report of the Clinical Oncological Society of Australia and the Medical Oncology Group of Australia.

Yet the State Labor Government is not interested in creating these positions, even after a successful Tasmanian trial recommending it.

In 2008, the Department of Health and Human sponsored a 12 month pilot to improve the care of patients with lung and colorectal cancer.

The project employed 2 full time nurses, one at the RHH and one at the LGH, as Cancer Care Coordinators.

An evaluation of the pilot has been completed and recommends Cancer Care Coordinators be established across the State, however the State Labor Government will not fund these positions and has no plans to establish Cancer Care Coordinators across Tasmania.

This is despite :

• A projected growth in cancer patient numbers of 42% by 2021;

• Tasmania having the highest age standardized incidence rates of cancer of any State or Territory;

• Tasmanians being the most likely to die from cancer (age standardized death rates for all cancers in Tasmania for 2005 were 205.2 deaths per 100,000 population compared to the national average of 177.5 deaths per 100,000 population)

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Under the provisions of the relevant Electoral Act responsibility for all election comment is assumed by Editor Victor P Taffa. The Registered office of The Southern Thunderer is at 4/69a Darvall Road, West Ryde NSW 2114.