Remote Radiotherapy Planning: No longer a dream
Sydney South West Area Health Service
This project was entered in the 2007 NSW Health Awards, Building Regional and other Partnerships for Health category.
Contact: Wendy Jamieson
Abstract
Costs involved in terms of long travel time and distance for rural patients to attend radiotherapy treatment planning has been a major barrier to patients’ access to radiotherapy. Remote radiotherapy planning was discussed as one of the possible solutions to increase rural access to radiotherapy. Remote planning involves the patient undergoing a radiotherapy CT scan prior to the treatment commencing. A partnership between the former Macquarie Area Health Service and RPAH radiation oncology was formed to make this project a reality. The program started in December 2006 and 35 patients have been simulated remotely for radiotherapy in 6 monthly visits by RPAH radiation oncology team. The project has received overwhelming positive feedback from the patients and is looking toward expanding the services in the near future to further provide the health care that people need and to deliver high quality services to rural and regional areas.
The full entry document can be downloaded in the formats listed below:
Remote Radiotherapy Planning: No longer a dream (35KB)
Remote Radiotherapy Planning: No longer a dream (24KB)
Download the Presentation (221K) from the 2007 NSW Health Expo
