Queensland Health Minister, Shannon Fentiman today confirmed that a machine designed to reduce hair loss during chemotherapy will be repaired and returned to support patients undergoing chemotherapy on the Gold Coast.
The Health Minister (pictured) recently met with breast cancer survivors on the Gold Coast, who told her how important the machine – which is being used in the local patient trial – was to their wellbeing.
During the trial the chair malfunctioned which resulted in the trial being suspended.
The Minister says she immediately brought the matter to the attention of her Director-General to assist the GCUH in immediately finding a solution.
“I am committed to ensuring this service remains available,” said Ms Fentiman.
“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.”
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.
The Gold Coast University Hospital has confirmed the machine is being repaired to allow 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.
“Repairing this machine and resuming the trial as soon as possible is the right thing to do,” the Minister said.
