Patients rate Macarthur Cancer Therapy Centre best in NSW

Macarthur Cancer Therapy Centre (MCTC) treats 40 per cent of southwest Sydney’s cancer patients.

Macarthur Cancer Therapy Centre nursing unit manager Denise Burns and Associate Professor Stephen Della-Fiorentina.

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Each year the doctors and nurses of the Macarthur Cancer Therapy Centre (MCTC) will treat 40 per cent of southwest Sydney’s cancer patients.

Against the backdrop of a massive population boom, the centre has been rated by patients as the best in NSW in the Bureau of Health Information’s (BHI) Outpatient Cancer Clinic Survey.

That record has led to the MCTC having a long list of staff wanting to work at the facility, which opened in 2003.

Macarthur Cancer Therapy Centre nursing unit manager Denise Burns and Professor Stephen Della-Fiorentina. Picture: Daniel Zautsen

MCTC director Associate Professor Stephen Della-Fiorentina said the centre could now accommodate most of the region’s cancer treatment needs.

“Up to 90 per cent of the patients that we see here, live here,” he said.

“The growth has been pretty incredible … the number of visits has gone from 1000 in 2003 to more than 18,000 new patients in medical and radiation oncology.

“That’s partly because the population is growing and cancer is increasing but it’s also because people are staying here; they’re not going to the north of Sydney or to Liverpool for treatment … we are able to treat them here.”

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Associate Professor Della-Fiorentina said 40 per cent of cancer patients in the South West Local Health District used the Macarthur centre.

Nursing unit manager Denise Burns said part of the reason behind the MCTC’s good rating in the BHI report was the attitudes of staff.

“It’s a very rewarding place to work,” she said.

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“A lot of people’s perception is that it’s going to be doom and gloom but it’s not that.

“There’s plenty of laughter and the staff here are very happy coming to work each day because of the culture that we have.

“We don’t have a very big turnover of nursing staff — we have some who started in 2003 and have stayed with us.”

In the upcoming Campbelltown Hospital stage two redevelopment, the MCTC will get a third linear accelerator, chemotherapy chairs will be doubled from nine to 18 and the number of chemotherapy clinics boosted from nine to 14.

Associate Professor Della-Fiorentina said more upgrades were needed amid the high pressure placed on medical services by population growth.

“It’s that capacity compared to demand that we’re all going to struggle with,” he said.

“It’s great that Liverpool Hospital is getting a whole bunch of money for its cancer centre but we probably need that as well.

“We are looking at ways of providing the service for longer in the day to increase capacity … that will need more staff.”