MIDLAND’s Icon Cancer Centre is seeking support from the state government to help bring cancer treatment closer to home for patients in Swan and the hills through a new partnership.

Icon Cancer Centre state manager Colin La Galia said the establishment of a radiation oncology (RO) service in Midland presented a unique opportunity to significantly improve cancer care accessibility and outcomes for the community.

“Patients in Midland and surrounding areas currently face long wait times and often need to travel considerable distances to receive radiation therapy,” he said.

“All RO patients from St John of God (SJOG) Midland need to travel from Midland and surrounding suburbs to Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital for treatment.

“This not only adds to their emotional and physical burden but also impacts their overall treatment efficacy.”

Kalamunda resident Elizabeth Collett said she could attest to the difference closer to home treatment made after experiencing four different cancers in four years, with two being in stage four.

“When I had radiotherapy at Icon Midland I needed to go there every day for three weeks, excluding weekends,” she said.

“My appointment would be about 15 minutes, and I would be home again faster than a one-way drive to Royal Perth Hospital (RPH).

“Including driving time, the experience was about 30-40 minutes, which was wonderful and significantly less stressful than having to drive to RPH or (Sir Charles Gairdner).

“When I had chemotherapy at Midland, that treatment was four hours, every two weeks for two months.

“The staff were exceptionally efficient, and I didn’t have to worry about transport time.

“My husband could also go home if he had to and return easily to pick me up.

“It is not just the patient but the carer who drives you and waits with you and the visitors who give you moral support, who are negatively impacted by not having ready access to treatments.”

The latest release from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows about one in 50 Australians had cancer in 2022, with skin cancer being the most reported type of cancer.

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) reported the previous month that, between 2000 and 2023, new cancer cases increased by 88 per cent.

Though the incidence of cancer is on the rise, it is in line with general population increases and AIHW reports the rate at which people died of cancer has decreased by 32 per cent over the past 30 years.

Mr La Galia said the rise in cases increased pressure on existing oncology services, which underscored a need for better local cancer treatment access.

“Midland and Swan Hills have been identified and highlighted as an area of need and focus for RO services moving forward,” he said.

“There is an opportunity for the state government to enter into a public private partnership with Icon Cancer Centre in Midland to provide RO services closer to home.”

Mr La Galia said the plan required community engagement and awareness raising to bring attention to the partnership’s need for state government support.

“This is a call to action,” he said.

“Patients can share their experience with the community, state, federal and regional members of parliament of having to travel to (distant hospitals) for RO treatment.

“Patients can write to the WA Health Minister as well.

“This service would be a collaborative initiative between East Metropolitan Health Service (EMHS), SJOG Midland and Icon Cancer.

“EMHS have already proactively approached Icon Cancer Care (for the partnership).

“Icon Cancer Centre is happy to support this public private partnership to ensure we are able to provide the best cancer care possible, to as many people as possible, as close to home as possible.

“We already have a similar arrangement in place at Icon Cancer Centre Rockingham with South Metropolitan Health Service, Fiona Stanley Hospital and Rockingham General Hospital.”

Ms Collett referred to the Rockingham arrangement and said she agreed patients from Midland and surrounding areas needed the same accessibility.

“Cancer patients at Icon Rockingham and Genesis Mandurah have easy access to radiotherapy for no out-of-pocket cost (and) Midland should too,” she said.

“Is it not time that the patients in Midland, surrounding suburbs and regional eastern areas, have the same equity to access lifesaving treatments?”

Icon Cancer Centre Midland is also adding a second linear acceleration machine for radiation treatment which is due to be operational before the end of the year.