What the Tasmanian Liberals will do:

Provide radiotherapy services on the North‐West Coast, and locate a MRI machine on the Coast.

The Tasmanian Liberals will ensure that, for the first time, people of the North‐West Coast have equitable access to the full range of cancer care, from diagnosis to radiation therapy to chemotherapy and specialist oncologists.

Under a plan, combining new State funding alongside a generous philanthropic contribution, the Liberals plan will deliver –

• A regional cancer clinic located at Burnie on the site of the North‐West Regional Hospital;
• Radiation oncology services (now only provided in Launceston and Hobart); and
• Privately‐run MRI services available for both public and private patients (now only provided in Launceston and Hobart).

The Liberal Plan will complement existing and planned improvements for chemotherapy and oncology services for the Coast.

It will ensure that people from the North‐West Coast are not forced to travel to Launceston or Hobart for diagnosis or ongoing cancer treatment.

Under a Hodgman Liberal Government, the North‐West clinic will operate under a hub and spoke model, recognising the professionalism and experience of the Launceston cancer team and drawing on its resources and expertise to establish the outreach centre in Burnie.

The costs of the Liberal Plan will be significantly reduced should the State’s bid for Australian Government regional cancer centre capital funding, estimated at $9 million for the whole of the State, be successful, or if the Federal Government agree to assist with the purchase of equipment needed for radiation treatment and diagnosis as North‐West Tasmanians would expect.

Regardless of whether the bid is successful, the Plan to deliver radiation oncology and MRI services will proceed under a Hodgman Liberal Government.

The Liberals’ Radiation Oncology Unit and MRI services will be sustainable, affordable, and will mean 7000 fewer road trips to Launceston and Hobart by sick patients with cancer a year from the North‐West Coast, and will for the first time deliver equity of access to cancer treatment for people of the North‐ West Coast.

The Liberal Plan is subject to the Federal Labor Government licensing equipment, and we would expect this would be a matter of course.

Why this policy is needed
Radiation oncology is the treatment of cancer using therapeutic radiation. It is also referred to as radiation therapy and radiotherapy and the treatment is often provided in daily sessions from Monday to Friday with a break at the weekend. Sometimes treatment lasts for several weeks, but usually each course is between 20 and 30 visits.

Currently services are delivered from the Holman Clinic at both the Royal Hobart Hospital (RHH) and the Launceston General Hospital (LGH), with the LGH providing the majority of treatment to North‐West residents.

North‐West cancer patients needing radiation oncology are forced to travel to either the LGH or RHH for this treatment on a daily basis, or stay for the duration of treatment.

It is estimated a cancer patient from the North‐West will travel an average of 9000 kms in the course of their treatment.

In the past two years, 659 patients from the North‐ West travelled to the LGH and RHH for radiation treatment. With each course of radiation being an average of 21 visits, that’s nearly 14,000 attendances for less than 10 minutes of treatment for sick cancer patients travelling miles away from home.

Approximately 1200 people a year from the North‐ West also travel to Launceston for MRI scans.

North‐West patients undergoing cancer treatment and travelling to Launceston or Hobart can access Patient Travel Assistance Scheme funding, and under the Liberal Plan, savings of $1.423 million over 4 years in PTAS expenditure will help offset the recurrent costs of providing radiotherapy treatment in Burnie.

In a recent Menzies Research Institute report on the incidence and mortality of cancer in Tasmania, 22% of new cancer cases detected were from the Mersey‐Lyell region; that is almost 500 new cases of cancer on the North‐West every year, and this figure is expected to increase dramatically as the Tasmanian population ages.

According to the Government’s own Clinical Services Plan, Tasmania requires a 6^th linear accelerator by 2016, and a 7^th linear accelerator in 2021 and:

… on a population basis, the North‐West will generate sufficient patient demand to support a single machine service and consideration should be given to developing such a service as a regional outreach service of the Holman Clinic at the LGH.
(Clinical Services Plan, page 114)

The Tasmanian Liberals will bring the State’s 6^th linear accelerator forward knowing that the lead‐time for such a development is 18 months or two years.

The Government’s Clinical Services Plan also notes that a number of single machine trials have been conducted by the Federal Department of Health and Ageing in conjunction with Victoria and anecdotal reports suggest these trials have been highly successful, however under the Liberal plan, and looking to the future, a second‐hand back‐up machine is factored in.

The Liberals’ cancer centre will be established in Burnie in a purpose‐built building on the site of the North‐West Regional Hospital.

Diagnostic services, including X‐rays, on the North‐ West Coast are currently delivered by the private sector and it would be the Liberal intention to extend that service to include an MRI machine to diagnose and detect cancers alongside its many other uses for both private and public patients. There is currently no MRI machine located on the North‐West Coast, with patients needing to travel to Launceston.

After 11 years of Labor...
In March 2007, Cancer Council CEO, Lawson Ride, said Tasmanian cancer patients got the run‐around in a confusing and disorganized health system, but worst affected were regional patients who had to travel to Launceston and Hobart for treatment.

In September 2007, Kevin Rudd (then Opposition Leader) and Federal Labor Member Sid Sidebottom, promised $7.7 million for a new cancer treatment unit¹. Mr Sidebottom said the oncology unit would require capital works if it was located at the North‐ West Regional Hospital, “as is our preference”.

In February 2008, Mr Sidebottom confirmed MRI services for the North‐West Coast, saying “the news will come as a great relief to the many … who have been forced to travel elsewhere in the State to receive MRI services”. A year later that promise was broken, and a new Federal‐funded linear accelerator for radiotherapy is to be housed in Launceston.

Cancer patients have been pleading for services to be delivered on the North‐West Coast, but this has fallen on deaf ears by both the Federal and State Labor Governments.

The Tasmanian Liberals have responded to this identified community need with this policy.

A July 2009 forum on the North‐West Coast heard of the real hardship faced by patients who said the worst part of the treatment was the travel, with their lives locked into a treadmill of a five to seven hour bus trip for 10 minutes of radiation treatment.

In November 2009, the Tasmanian Health Minister tabled a petition in Parliament from 968 residents on the North‐West Coast calling for a radiation oncology unit to be located at Burnie. The Minister’s dismissive response in Parliament was: “merely putting a machine into a community does not mean that machine can work for you”.

In late November 2009, the Minister repeated her assertion that a linear accelerator was not viable for the Coast because of a lack of specialists, despite her own Clinical Plan saying it should be considered.

In December 2009, the Minister confirmed the Tasmanian Government had bid for Australian Government regional cancer centre funding but it is understood the State submission does not include providing radiotherapy to the North‐West Coast.

A Hodgman Liberal Government plan does.

1. Advocate, 3 October 2007: Advertisement: “A better health plan for our region” including “7.7 million for a new cancer treatment unit”.
2. Capital funding includes a purpose‐built cancer centre, fit‐out, linear accelerator with back‐up machine, and an MRI machine, offset by a $1.5 million contribution by a North‐West philanthropist.
3. Recurrent funding includes staffing, maintenance of equipment and the provision of MRI services for public patients, offset by a $1,423,056 reduction over four years in PTAS expenditure.