No word yet on cancer care review
One question explored during review is whether radiation services could and/or should be located at Yarmouth Regional Hospital
There is still no word on whether there have been any decisions made – and, if not, when they will be made – relating to a cancer care review carried out last year in western Nova Scotia.
During 2018 an extensive review of how cancer care services are delivered was carried out by the Nova Scotia Cancer Care Program, which is part of the Nova Scotia Health Authority.
A major issue studied during the review was the possibility, feasibility and sustainability of having radiation therapy available at the Yarmouth Regional Hospital by installing a linear accelerator here.
Proponents of installing the equipment say radiation therapy based in Yarmouth could serve a large swath of western Nova Scotia and diminish the need for cancer patients to always have to have treatment done in Halifax, which brings with it an emotional, financial and physical toll.
It’s not known what recommendation was contained in the report pertaining to radiation services. The conclusions of the review were not made public prior to the report being submitted to the health department and minister for consideration.
And there has been no timeframe offered as to when word about the review will come.
“The Yarmouth Area Cancer Services Review report was submitted to government for review and consideration in the fall,” said Christine Smith in a Jan. 9 email. “There is no update yet.”
Smith said an update will be provided as soon as one is available to share.
What was described as a ‘major day’ in the review took place in Yarmouth last June when a day-long engagement session with stakeholders was held, which included cancer patient advisers and cancer health professionals from Yarmouth and Halifax. At that time Dr. Drew Bethune, the medical director of the Nova Scotia Health Authority’s (NSHA) Nova Scotia Cancer Care Program, said all of the information that had been gathered during the review was to be presented, with the discussion Dr. Drew Bethune, the medical director of the Nova Scotia Health Authority’s (NSHA) Nova Scotia Cancer Care Program.
to follow helping to shape the recommendations contained in the final report.
“The deliberations, we feel, will carry a lot of weight,” he had said. He couldn’t offer specifics about what the final report would contain, but said at that
time, “there will be recommendations looking either at the status quo, putting in a radiation therapy machine here or a bundle of options that would help to relieve the problems that people have with travel.”
Easing patient travel burden
in other ways is something else that was explored as part of the review.
Bethune also noted at the time one thing that had happened during the review was the cost of installing a linear accelerator at the Yarmouth Regional Hospital, and the operational cost, had been re-evaluated in light of new technologies.
“It’s less than before. Before it was $39 million and now I think it’s around $20 million to build it and ongoing costs to operate it were $3.2 million before and I think it’s close to the same, surprisingly enough. Those are ballpark figures,” he had said.
He noted there were many considerations that had to be factored into the review’s eventual recommendations, including, among other things, looking at how cancer care is funded and spread out throughout the province, as well as examining population trends, the catchment area for radiation services based in Yarmouth and how much of the population would potentially access this service if it were located in Yarmouth.
As part of the cancer care review, 943 Nova Scotians also completed surveys and 24 people from Yarmouth participated in two focus groups. There were also frequent review team meetings and meetings of subcommittees of the review as well.
The review was described as complex, but all efforts were also undertaken to ensure that it was a thorough and fair process.