Health Minister Shannon Fentiman has confirmed that a machine designed to reduce hair loss during chemotherapy will continue to support patients undergoing chemotherapy on the Gold Coast.
The Health Minister met with breast cancer survivors last month on the Gold Coast, who told her how important the machine was to their wellbeing.
The Minister immediately brought this to the attention of her Director-General to assist the GCUH in immediately finding a solution.
The machine is being used as part of a trial on the Gold Coast to judge its effectiveness in helping reduce hair loss in cancer patients.
During the trial the chair malfunctioned which resulted in the trial being suspended. The Gold Coast University Hospital however has confirmed the machine is being repaired so that the trial can continue.
Queensland Health is also working with the GCHHS to investigate whether additional oncology chairs can be added so that even more patients can receive chemotherapy treatment.
Quotes from Health Minister Shannon Fentiman:
“I have met with women who took part in this trial and understand just how important this service is for people undergoing cancer treatment – especially women.
“I am committed to ensuring this service remains available.
“As soon as I became aware of this situation, I asked Queensland Health to immediately find a solution so that these patients could continue to participate in the trial. As a result, the machine is now undergoing repairs.
“Chemotherapy is hard enough – these women deserve to have world class care while receiving their treatment.
“Once the evaluation is complete, I would love to see scalp cooling treatment rolled out to other public hospitals across Queensland.
“Repairing this machine and resuming the trial as soon as possible is the right thing to do.”
