Pressure mounting for Government to deliver radiation therapy unit for Geraldton cancer patients

A local GP who battled breast cancer is campaigning for Geraldton to have its own radiation therapy unit, saying she knows from personal experience that a facility would be a “game changer” for local cancer sufferers and their families. Pressure is mounting for government to deliver such a facility for Geraldton, but the State and Commonwealth appear to have reached a stalemate over who will foot the bill. The Federal Government in 2019 announced a $9 million investment to bring the infrastructure to the Mid West, but an additional $10m is needed to fund the project. The project received no funding in the latest State or Federal Budgets. Geraldton cancer patients currently have access to private and public chemotherapy units and regular oncology clinics at the Midwest Cancer Centre, but no radiotherapy services are available in the city. Geraldton GP Dr Mahee Jayakody joined the growing number of local residents forced to travel to Perth for treatment when she was diagnosed with breast cancer last year. Dr Jayakody said the diagnosis affected her son significantly and he missed weeks of schooling when he refused to stay in Geraldton while his mother was receiving radiation therapy in Perth. “My son was already really, really worried because I was diagnosed with cancer. He said he did not want to stay at home because he wanted to know that I’m definitely going to come home,” she said. “So he travelled with me. He missed school for that duration and then he went to school at the end, but it was quite stressful for him.” Dr Jayakody saw a local psychologist for counselling to keep up her mental health, but having to travel to Perth for radiotherapy meant she was away from those services. “I had to let that go, because I couldn’t access the same psychologist that I saw in Geraldton,” she said. “My husband was running up and down, trying to maintain his job and trying to care for me as well. It was a very stressful period.” Dr Jayakody said COVID pressures also affected her treatment in Perth as leaving the hospital put her at risk of contracting the virus and having to postpone treatment. “During the pandemic, I couldn’t go out or go for walks because if I was exposed to COVID, my treatment would stop and I would have to return home to Geraldton,” she said. “My partner was trying to provide for me and maintain his job, it was very difficult travelling up and down.” Dr Jayakody said when she wasn’t provided compensation for the travel expenses, it became a “huge extra cost”. She said access to radiation treatment in Geraldton would be a “game changer” for cancer-affected families. “They don’t have to travel, they don’t have to go through such anxiety, and the distance that the patients need to travel will reduce greatly because the people who are up north, they can come to the regional cities,” she said. Cancer Council WA’s cancer information and support services director Melanie Marsh said there was a growing concern that some patients would miss out on radiotherapy altogether due to their inability to travel to Perth. “Country people have poorer cancer outcomes than their metro counterparts. There is often a delay in diagnosis, a delay in seeking treatment because the logistics of doing so are so much harder the further you live from the metro area,” she said. Health Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson has slammed the Federal Government for failing to fully fund the project given the State’s $122.7m commitment to redevelop Geraldton Health Campus. Member for Durack Melissa Price has given no indication the Federal Government will pitch in additional cash for the project.