Geraldton doc lauds plan for radiation therapy centre

A cancer specialist who has served Geraldton for 14 years has welcomed Member for Durack Melissa Price’s announcement of a new Federally funded radiation therapy centre in Geraldton.

“I have been saying for several years I would love to see a machine in Geraldton to treat people closer to home,” Dr Andrew Dean said.

“Anything that improves our service to patients in Geraldton is a good thing and anything that helps people to be treated in their home town is helpful.”

However, Dr Dean said the money would need to be spent carefully to get the best result.

“The population that supports a radiation treatment centre is usually around 80,000 or 100,000 people,” he said.

“You would hope it would be built with people who understand the complexity of delivering high-quality cancer care in a rural environment.”

Dr Dean said radiation therapy centres in Albany and Bunbury were easier to plan and run because they had larger populations to support them.

“The difference with Geraldton is that if you look at what is nearby, there is a very sparse population,” he said.

“To have a machine locally would be good but you would need the infrastructure to support the machine.”

Labor candidate for Durack Sharyn Morrow was not available for comment.