That’s no way to treat our cancer kids, parents tell Women’s and Children’s Hospital
Parents say their children with cancer deserve better than what is going on at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital.
SA News
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Children with cancer are being cared for in an overflow ward at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital by nurses who lack specialist training, worried parents say.
Thirty-three parents have put their names to a letter to Health Minister Stephen Wade and Premier Stephen Marshall, calling for action.
Their complaints have the support of the man who started oncology services at the WCH and whose name now hangs above the door of the cancer ward, Dr Michael Rice.
Amanda Lawless, of Happy Valley, penned the letter in which she says the nine-bed Michael Rice Centre (MRC) Ward had responsibility for 17 inpatients earlier this month, with eight needing to be cared for elsewhere in the hospital.
Ms Lawless’s son Knox, 3, was among them.
He was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in April and has become a regular in the MRC Ward.
“Since Knox started treatment … there has not been a time where the MRC Ward has not been over its capacity of inpatients,” his mother’s letter says.
“If funding is not available immediately, then I would like to know what the plan is to manage our children so they are not receiving cytotoxic drugs whilst under the supervision of nurses who do not have the specialist training for cytotoxic drug administration and management and on wards which are not the MRC Ward.
“It is quite shocking that this situation could occur.”
Ms Lawless said Knox often ended up in Cassia Ward, which had become the main overflow ward for paediatric oncology patients.
On October 9, however, when the MRC Ward was juggling 17 patients between wards, she was told Knox would need to be moved to Cassia early, before completing his infusion of high-dose methatrexate.
This was because two beds in MRC needed to be closed because overtime had not been approved for the specialist nurses.
Ms Lawless said it was distressing to be told her son would have to complete his infusion in Cassia.
“He has been experiencing nasty side effects of this specific drug and the consultant wanted him to be monitored by staff who know the drug well,” she says in her letter.
“The training a nurse must undertake to administer and manage cytotoxic drugs takes at least two years; there are no such nurses on the Cassia Ward.”
Ultimately, Knox’s transfer was delayed two hours and he completed the infusion but Ms Lawless wants to ensure all children are treated by fully trained staff.
She also asks in her letter for the MRC Ward children’s playroom, which was closed at the height of COVID restrictions, to be reopened.
“The oncology kids are known as the ‘frequent flyers’ of the WCH,” her letter says.
“It is time for their mental health to be made a priority again with the reopening of the playroom and adolescent room.”
Dr Rice, who started paediatric oncology services in 1967 and retired in 2002, said the haematology/cancer service at the WCH needed “an immediate injection of resources to continue to provide first-class care for children in SA and beyond”.
He said the MRC Ward was understaffed, compared with the national average for the same workload and he feared there would be inadequate provision for an increased workload at the new hospital.
Dr Ben Saxon, medical unit head for the Michael Rice Centre, said the overflow was variable but he was confident that there were enough nursing staff with appropriate training.
“We’ve recently had an increase in number of doctors but we have plenty of nurses who are well trained in looking after children with haematology/oncology problems,” he said.
“The last four or five months has been very very busy.”
He said the centre averaged 65 new patients a year but had received a large percentage of those in less than six months and the hospital had responded with more resources.
Dr Jenny Fereday, WCH executive director, nursing and midwifery, said she did not believe there was a need for more specialist oncology nurses.
