MONDAY, October 21, 2013 will go down as a historic day in the Shoalhaven.
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It was the date that the first patient was treated at the $35 million Shoalhaven Cancer Care Centre.
The existing oncology day care, which administers chemotherapy treatment, was relocated from Shoalhaven Hospital over the weekend into the new centre and started treatments on Monday.
Work continues on other aspects of the centre, including testing the linear accelerator machine, and plans are still on track for an official opening later in the year.
It was a proud day for director of cancer services Anthony Arnold and the team of healthcare professionals at the centre.
“It is the first step towards having the whole centre operational,” Mr Arnold said.
“It is a historic day but strange at the same time to finally be treating patients.
“We have started slowly. Getting the oncology unit up and running was always going to be our first goal.
“Patient safety is always our biggest concern.
“But this is the start of bigger things for the whole centre.”
The new unit, which is based on the top floor of the centre, has expansive views of the Shoalhaven River and the Nowra Golf Course.
It currently has six treatment beds, which can treat between 18 and 25 patients a day depending on the level of chemotherapy being delivered.
“There is scope for that to increase as need demands,” Mr Arnold said.
“We have a big space there. It was purpose designed and there is a capability to house at least 14 beds at full capacity.
“Any expansion would be in stages, depending on demand. At the moment we are coping with the rates of referrals and existing patients we have.”
Four nursing staff are manning the new unit, while a number of other medical professionals are also being based at the centre, while three clerical staff have also taken up positions.
Another service was due to come on line on Tuesday with the first outpatient clinic, where haematology outpatients can consult with their specialists, be it a new consultation, a follow-up during treatment or at the completion of treatment.
“It is exciting to finally have one section of the centre functioning and there has been a lot of people who have worked long and hard to see it happen,” Mr Arnold said.
He said work continues on the calibration of the linear accelerator.
“The radiation oncology medical physics team is continuing to work hard towards the commissioning of the linear accelerator,” he said.
“So far the testing is going well, and early results have shown that we are a good match to the Wollongong machine, which will is great and will allow us to manage patient transfers.
“Calibrating is a detailed and complex process of acceptance testing and commissioning. That includes the linear accelerator, superficial X-ray treatment unit, CT scanner and computerised treatment planning system.”
A number of other allied health services such as social workers, dieticians and speech pathologists are also due to come on line in coming weeks.
The doors of the new centre were thrown open to the public for the first time last month with a special open day for many of the fund-raising groups from within the Shoalhaven that raised $1.7 million towards the centre.
Groups toured the facility and the 10 accommodation units.