Radiation therapy call petition entered into Parliament

A statement issued by Health Minister Chris Picton this afternoon said the Local Health board had decided to "proceed with a feasibility study and business case".

He said while the funding for the centre had been in place two years earlier, the then-Liberal SA government had "decided to reject it".

"I understand the Liberals rejected the proposal because of safety and quality concerns - but the Liberals need to explain why that occurred," he said.

Mr Picton said they would "properly give this issue the detailed analysis and business case".

"Critical to this will be analysis of the clinical safety and quality concerns that were raised during the Liberal Government," he said.

A push to stop a "10-hour round trip for 10 minutes of treatment" has brought the South East community together to call for the establishment of a radiation therapy unit at Mount Gambier.

A group of about 15 Limeston Coast residents were on the steps of Parliament House Thursday to deliver a petition with 16,000 hardcopy signatures - and more than 20,000 including online signatories - in support, meeting with opposition politicians before the petition was tabled in the Lower House.

Radiation Treatment Limestone Coast working party chair Lachlan Haynes said it was disappointing that SA's second largest city did not have suitable cancer treatment facilities, nor did anywhere in SA outside of Adelaide.

He said anyone from the South East, who needed radiation therapy, was required to head to Adelaide or across the border to Warrnambool, Vic.

While Warrnambool is a two-hour drive from Mount Gambier, in comparison with the five-hour drive to Adelaide, Mr Haynes said it was a city with a comparable population to Mount Gambier, and SA should have its own resources.

"SA is the outlier here in not having radiation services outside of the capital city," he said.

"It's not a sign of state moving ahead."

Mr Haynes said patients having to relocate from the South East to Adelaide did have an enormous toll - be it financial as well as on their mental health.

"It's not having them with family - it's your wellness in having the support of your network," he said.

"It can be a 10-15 minute procedure but you have to shift (to Adelaide) and pay for all accommodation, fuel, travel and your family might not be able to afford to travel to see you, and then you can't work," he said.

"We're a long way from Adelaide and it's really difficult to come down."

South East resident Dee Carmody was part of the South East contingent, there to speak about her experiences with radiation therapy.

She said her first interaction came about when her father was diagnosed with cancer, leading on to 10-years of travel between Mount Gambier and Adelaide to get him treatment.

The six years ago, her son was diagnosed with a brain tumour, leading to more prolonged stays across five years, including the most recent stay of three months.

She said, while she came to visit as much as she could, it was also isolating for him to be staying in accommodation away from his family, and it did have a toll on his mental health.

Ms Carmody said while she was aware there was financial support available, she felt the PATS scheme was already under too much pressure and shouldered many of the costs herself.

But with her son unable to work as a chef, he lost all his savings during that time.

Ms Carmody's son is in remission and he is back at work and has a family.

"I just don't want him to come back here again down the track," she said.

She says the surrounding stress of moving to Adelaide had put some people off treatment.

"I know of people who opted out of radiation therapy because they couldn't afford it, and they're no longer with us," she said.

Federal Member for Barker Tony Pasin said he had secured $4.3 million in funding from the Coalition government to be used for setting up this unit, but it needed the state government to come to the table.

"If you live in the Limestone Coast, you are 35 per cent more likely to die from cancer in five years than if you live in Largs Bay," he said.

He said that statistic proved the importance of bringing better treatment options to the region.

State opposition leader David Speirs said this money had been reallocated to other "upgrades" of the Mount Gambier Hospital rather than the needed unit.

"It is a 10-hour road trip for 10 minutes of treatment and it's unacceptable," he said.

"We need better services.

"This determined South East community group deserves to be heard and deserve answers on why they are being overlooked for a dedicated radiation facility in Mount Gambier."

READ MORE:

Opposition regional health spokesperson Penny Pratt said this was a topic that she heard many patients speak about the difficulty accessing cancer services in the region.

She said with the larger Limestone Coast population - "from Kingston to Keith", there was a catchment of 60,000, who would benefit from the treatment facility.

"As the state's second biggest city, it makes a strong case for the Labor government that there is a need for this service," she said.