Better outlook with oncology

IT was on September 4, 2006 that a public meeting was held in Cairns after local cancer patient Liz Plummer highlighted – in an interview with this newspaper – that there were inadequate oncology services available in the city.

Ms Plummer had told of the lack of these services causing unnecessary pain and suffering, by having to travel to Townsville or Brisbane for treatment.

After that meeting, COUCH (Committee for Oncology Unit at Cairns Hospital) started its mission to ease the pain for sufferers.

Twelve years later, oncology services in the Far North appear to have been greatly improved. We have the Liz Plummer Cancer Care Centre (named in honour, of course, of the late Ms Plummer), COUCH has started construction on its wellness centre along Reservoir Rd, and we now have a larger BreastScreen clinic due to open along McLeod St on Wednesday.

The new BreastScreen clinic has been designed to cater for an increased number of patients.

According to the Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service, last financial year nearly 15,500 Far North Queenslanders had mammograms via the temporary Cairns clinic and the mobile screening service. Of these people, 112 women were diagnosed with breast cancer.

Obviously, the more people who can be screened for cancer, the earlier there can be medical intervention to treat the condition.

In just over a decade, health services are catching up with the demand, potentially saving lives. Daniel Bateman daniel.bateman@news.com.au