Donated equipment at Gatton Hospital has helped save regional West Moreton cancer patients from having to travel a massive 2,765km to Ipswich and back for treatment.
“That’s greater than the distance between Gatton and Christchurch,” said Scott Young, CEO of West Moreton Health Foundation, which facilitated the donation.
Prior to last year, patients in the West Moreton Health region had to travel to Ipswich Hospital for oncology treatments such as chemotherapy but in the past 12 months, that’s changed.
Employees from Stanbroke donated $100,000 to Gatton Hospital, which funded a large range of equipment, including day medical infusion chairs for patients undergoing infusion therapy.
The chairs give greater comfort to patients undergoing infusion therapy, while helping to protect staff from back injuries when they apply dressings or remove oncology pumps.
Clinical Nurse Chelsey Reynolds leads the teleoncology service at Gatton Hospital.
“Higher strength chemotherapy doses still require specialist titration at Ipswich Hospital, meaning some patients need to go there,” Ms Reynolds said.
“But once they go down to the lower grade chemos they can come and see me at Gatton Hospital.
“Because they were going for treatment every few weeks, the travel burden would build up over months. Accessing treatment in Gatton saves people a lot of time and stress.”
A huge impact on patient quality of life
Separate research funded by the West Moreton Health Foundation, the charitable partner of West Moreton Health, shows cancer patients prefer to access care in the community.
Surveyed patients were a median distance of 29 kilometres closer to their local hospital than to Ipswich and 88.8 per cent wanted their oncology treatment closer to home.
“Long drives can add to the nausea and fatigue cancer patients already feel. At the same time, many people need others to drive them longer distances,” Mr Young said.
“Having teleoncology closer to home has huge quality of life benefits for patients.”
Donna Gorman, a Gatton local who has received cancer treatment in both Ipswich and Gatton, estimated her total travel and treatment time has been reduced by two thirds.
“In the past it’s taken me around six hours to get to Ipswich and back, including the time spent at the hospital,” Ms Gorman said.
“In Gatton, it probably takes about two hours including travel time and you feel more comfortable in your local surroundings.”
Mr Young said the donation from Stanbroke’s employees had made a huge difference.
“One of the primary goals of the West Moreton Health Foundation is to support care in the community. I’d like to thank Stanbroke and their employees for helping us achieve that goal for patients in Gatton,” he concluded.
