Breastscreen must go FIFO

NEARLY a quarter of a million dollars will be spent by health officials to fly up to 200 women from remote Far Northern communities to Cairns for urgent breast screening.

A mobile van used to provide mammograms to Cape York and Torres Strait residents has suffered major breakdowns, which local health services say is due to poor road conditions.

The van is due to visit the region in June, however Torres and Cape Hospital and Health Service executive Bev Hamerton said they would work with BreastScreen Cairns to schedule women overdue for a breast screen to travel to Cairns for their service, rather than wait for the van to arrive in three months.

“In total, we expect around 185 women from Pormpuraaw, Aurukun, Kowanyama, Lockhart River and Bamaga will make the trip to Cairns at an estimated cost of around $1200 each,” she said.

“The cost of this travel will be processed through the Queensland Patient Travel Subsidy Scheme.”

She said every effort was being made to schedule the women’s BreastScreen appointments around other medical or health-related appointments that would have resulted in the majority of the women having to already travel to Cairns.

“Come June-July, if the mobile screening unit is unable to access some communities and women who were scheduled to be screened then miss out, we will also fly them to Cairns for their screening,” she said.

The mobile breast screening van, operated by BreastScreen Queensland in Cairns, aims to visit the Cape York and Torres Strait Island communities on rotational every two years.

Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service executive officer Donna Goodman said unfortunately, visits to some Cape York communities needed to be cancelled due to damage to the truck, and damage to the sensitive medical screening equipment within the vehicle, from rough roads.

“The van runs on a tight schedule so damage occurring when visiting one community and subsequent repairs affect the ability of the truck to visit communities on the schedule,” she said. “The van is currently operational.

“The mobile van is due to visit the western Cape York communities in July and August and we are hopeful that the roads will be in good order to facilitate this visit.”

IF THE MOBILE SCREENING UNIT IS UNABLE TO ACCESS SOME COMMUNITIES AND WOMEN WHO WERE SCHEDULED TO BE SCREENED THEN MISS OUT, WE WILL ALSO FLY THEM TO CAIRNS FOR THEIR SCREENING HEALTH SERVICE EXECUTIVE BEV HAMERTON