5. TIM MACINDOE (National—Hamilton West) Link to this
to the Minister of Health
What progress are district health boards making in providing faster cancer radiation treatment for patients?
Hon TONY RYALL (Minister of Health) Link to this
Great progress. All cancer patients needing radiation treatment are now receiving it within the 4-week world gold standard for radiation treatment. I can inform the House that in the last 2½ years not one patient has been sent to Australia for cancer radiation treatment. Members will recall that not so long ago patients often had to wait up to 15 or 16 weeks to begin their radiation treatment, and many had to travel to Australia. Our doctors, nurses, and community cancer workers have achieved this through improved productivity, the purchase of 10 new linear accelerators, and more staff being provided in our cancer centres. They are doing a great job.
The Government is working very hard to improve cancer services for patients. Seven hundred and fifty women have had access to Herceptin treatment, which they would not have got 3 years ago. Our bowel cancer screening programme will begin shortly in the Waitematā District Health Board, and it involves 60,000 people. That is a first for New Zealand. We have also invested more in cancer medicines to treat leukaemia, Hodgkin’s disease, lymphoma, bowel cancer, lung cancer, pancreatic cancer, skin cancer, and prostate cancer. There are still challenges before us, but I think our clinicians are making a lot of progress.