Cairns councillor urges major parties to commit to cancer centre funding

Major party candidates for Leichhardt have refused to commit to funding a vital Cairns cancer centre as a councillor urges them to “put aside the politics” and consider the health of residents.

Major party candidates for Leichhardt have refused to commit to funding a vital Cairns cancer centre as a councillor urges them to “put aside the politics” and consider the health of residents.

On Tuesday ALP candidate Matt Smith and Jeremy Neal (LNP) avoided committing $7.5m over five years to the Cairns Organisation United for Cancer Health (COUCH) Wellness Centre after its funding stopped in March.

But Cairns Regional Council Division 7 councillor Anna Middleton, speaking as a physiotherapist of 30 years, urged both parties to pledge funding to the essential service ahead of the federal election on Saturday.

“This is the health of people in Cairns we’re talking about,” Ms Middleton said.

“No one’s going to raise that sort of money just by fundraising … the evidence is there that (COUCH) is an incredible organisation … and it’s such a big difference for people if they can get those services and actually recover well – not just recover – but recover well.”

Ms Middleton said she often treated post-acute cancer patients as a physiotherapist. Picture: Brendan Radke

The COUCH Wellness Centre in Manoora provides health and wellbeing support to cancer-affected people in the Far North, and was previously funded by the North Queensland Public Health Network.

It provides a range of services including allied health, exercise classes, education, support groups, and resources for carers and family members.

At a stakeholder roundtable on March 21 to discuss COUCH’s future, the centre asked for $7.5m over five years to stay open while they transitioned to a self-sustaining business model.

After the meeting, which was attended by Mr Neal, the Labor and LNP parties received an outline of the business plan, which stipulated a transition to a general practitioner-centred model of care and an extension of their allied health services to include dietitians and mental health professionals.

Ms Middleton said outcomes for regional and rural cancer patients were already worse than those in cities due to a lack of services.

About 25 political, health, business and civic Far North leaders attended the roundtable meeting. Picture: Supplied

“We’re already struggling enough service to our patients, they’re no different than anyone in the city except that the funding’s not there and the services aren’t there,” she said.

While Ms Middleton said there were good acute oncology services in Cairns, the closure of a post acute service like COUCH would be “hugely detrimental” to the community given how important post acute services were in a person’s cancer journey.

“We know that post-acute treatment is vital for people’s outcomes and how they go on in their lives,” Ms Middleton said.

“Just getting rid of people’s cancer is not actually treating them properly, so if you want to provide decent healthcare to people, you need to make sure that second part of their health is actually addressed.”

Mr Smith highlighted Labor’s previous funding of the centre via the Primary Health Network, which is federally funded.

“If elected I would continue to advocate for them as their local member of parliament,” he said.

The centre backs onto rainforest in Manoora. Picture: Supplied

Mr Neal said the LNP had received COUCH’s new business plan and pointed to the LNP’s pledge to invest $9.4bn into general practice and mental health.

“With the GP shortage, our recent announcement will create more GPs which was the necessary first step,” Mr Neal said.

“If elected I will work closely with COUCH to find a path to a sustainable business model.”

Originally published as Cairns councillor urges major parties to commit to cancer centre funding