Cancer care closer to home

“It just made so much difference to my health and my wellbeing, having the treatment closer.”

Breast cancer patient Belinda would travel two hours to Eastern Health Box Hill from her home in regional Victoria, to receive her treatment. A journey that would add stress and anxiety to an already difficult time in her life.

Thanks to the establishment of a new Oncology Clinic at Alexandra District Health, Belinda can now get to many of her appointments within 30 minutes.

The Clinic is another example of  the partnership between Eastern Health and Alexandra District Health, further enhanced following the introduction of the East Metro & Murrindindi Local Health Service Network. ,

Eastern Health Medical Oncologist, Dr Yang Wang, leads the clinic.

“The key benefits of the local health service network is ultimately to provide patients with comprehensive care a lot closer to home.

“A lot of regional patients do miss out on timely cancer care…simply from being geographically remote. [This clinic] does improve ease of receiving treatment”, Dr Yang Wang said.

Through this collaboration, Dr Wang can also refer consumers directly to other services at Alexandra District Health, such as a range of Allied Health services, meaning a continuity of care previously more difficult to manage for his patients that would travel from regional areas.

Eastern Health Clinical Nurse Consultant Molly Kitson enjoys her time travelling to Alexandra to be a part of the clinic and looks forward to the future.

“The relationship between Alexandra District Health and Eastern Health has been great to be a part of. To be able to take away that time [from their journey], so patients can enjoy the beautiful community they live in, is just so wonderful.”

Recalling her cancer treatment journey so far, Belinda shares praise for the service and those that are a part of it.

“Molly and Dr Wang have become like family now. I actually enjoy coming here to see them. Everybody at Alexandra and Eastern Health have been wonderful. It’s fantastic to have them here. I’m very grateful”