“THE week of the Italian way of living” culminates with Vivere all’Italiana Day and an open day at the Italian embassy on Sunday, November 25. Visitors will be invited into the embassy gardens where Italian […]
Dunne: Old equipment fails cancer patients
FEWER cancer patients are being treated in time as ACT Labor fails to update ageing medical equipment and address workforce shortages, says Shadow Minister for Health Vicki Dunne, in response to the 2017-18 annual health report.
Vicki Dunne.
“Cancer patients and their families need to be very concerned about this,” she says.
“For a number of years we were meeting and even exceeding the target of cancer patients seen in time. There was a gradual decline over the past couple of years, but these latest figures show a shocking plummet.
“This huge drop off in the timeliness of cancer treatment is largely attributed to outdated equipment, lack of staff and increasing demand.
The ACT government should have been looking at issues well before reaching the point where it can no longer meet the needs of cancer patients.
“Most alarming is that cancer equipment is too old to deal with the complex needs of our patients. We have a new cancer centre, why wasn’t the equipment updated with the new centre?”
Money has to found to pay for the tram!