Labor to establish new breast cancer clinic as part of boost to women's health

ACT Labor has promised to expand health services for women if re-elected on 19 October, including a new breast cancer clinic and more gynaecological services

A Labor government would establish a high-risk breast cancer clinic at the North Canberra Hospital to boost access to specialised screening, treatment and support services.

Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said the new clinic would provide early monitoring for women at risk, particularly those with the BRCA gene, which makes them more likely to develop breast cancer.

“We’ve heard from people who have a high risk of breast cancer that they need to get that early support with their scans, whether they need an MRI rather than just a mammogram, for example, and they need that on a regular basis,” Ms Stephen-Smith said.

“But they also need that counselling and other support around decision making if they have a family risk of breast cancer or a genetic risk of breast cancer, or if indeed, they have had breast cancer, and they continue to be at high risk.”

Ms Stephen-Smith said breast care nurses were already providing care at North Canberra Hospital, which was why Labor had decided to locate the clinic there, to build on that expertise.

Labor would work with clinicians, researchers, specialists, consumers and advocates to design the clinic and its services.

A Labor government would also hire more nurses and allied health workers at the Canberra Endometriosis Centre at the Canberra Hospital, as well recruiting more specialists.

The Canberra Endometriosis Centre will work with the new pelvic pain clinic at Sexual Health and Family Planning ACT, as well as primary care providers and private specialists, to better coordinate patient care.

Ms Stephen-Smith said there was increased demand for pelvic pain and endometriosis specialist support services, as well as the multidisciplinary care that made a real difference to women’s lives by managing their pain and long-term health outcomes.

“Women’s health is being taken a lot more seriously,” she said. “We’ve all heard the stories about women whose experience has been dismissed or minimised in the health system and we definitely want to be addressing that.”

The Canberra Liberals have committed to establishing a brand new endometriosis centre, saying services were fragmented.

Labor will also expand the Pain Management Service, Spinal Pain Service and Community Care Physiotherapy Service. This will provide Canberrans with better access to multidisciplinary care and specialised treatment to manage their specific condition.

The Women’s Health Service – which caters to women aged 14 years and above who, for many reasons, find it difficult to access health services – will be expanded to more locations across the ACT so women can access the care they need closer to home.

Ms Stephen-Smith said the service provided primary care and mental health and counselling support for particularly vulnerable women in a safe and supportive environment.

“I’ve heard from the clinicians there about women who, after accessing the counselling service, have actually been able to get their children back, who had been removed into care as a result of the trauma that those women had experienced and their life challenges, so it makes a real difference in women’s lives.”

Ms Stephen-Smith said the service was based in the city and Labor would take advice from it on where best to site other clinics.

Labor also plans to boost paediatric care at the Centenary Women’s and Children’s Hospital and the Molonglo health hub, hiring more specialists

It says this will mean fewer families will need to travel interstate to receive care.

However, for those who do, Labor will review the Interstate Patient Travel Assistance Scheme to reduce administrative burden and upfront costs.

Labor will also expand the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service.