Waiting for care

By Tania Martin
MONBULK cancer survivor Dawn Jones has been forced to wait four months for treatment following the closure of a hills health service.
The lymphedema clinic closed last year after operating from the Ranges Community Health Service in Belgrave and Lilydale for more than 10 years.
The closure came because of a lack of nurses who are qualified to deliver the specialised treatment at the Ranges Community Health Service.
The service’s CEO Karyne McPeake said it had been a struggle finding anyone for the position.
She said despite advertising the job there had been little or no interest.
But Ms McPeake said the service would not give up trying to find someone.
“We are putting advertisements out again and hope we can fill the position,” she said.
“If we can get someone we can reopen the clinic.”
The position requires someone with a nursing or physiotherapy background to then undergo additional training in the specialised area of treating lymphedema.
Mrs Jones says she now has to travel to East Melbourne for treatment at the Mercy Hospital.
Lymphodimia is the swelling of limbs which is often a by-product of cancer.
It is caused by an accumulation of lymphatic fluid which leads to swelling in the arms or legs.
Mrs Jones said that her condition started 11 years ago after having radio and chemotherapy for breast cancer.
Having had the lymph nodes under her left armpit removed Mrs Jones soon found her arm starting to swell.
Mrs Jones has been putting her treatment off since September last year, hoping that the service would be reinstated.
“I was told they didn’t have a trained nurse to do the clinic and that the job was being advertised,” she said.
She said the service at Ranges Community Health was fantastic and it was disappointing that nothing had been offered to sufferers to replace it.
“We received comprehensive advice and treatment at the clinic and now we have to wait months before we can see anyone,” Mrs Jones said.
Without recent treatment, Mrs Jones has no idea how her condition has progressed.
“It could have gotten worse and I don’t even know about it,” she said.
After discovering last month that the service would not be reinstated, Mrs Jones attempted to make an appointment at the Mercy Hospital but was told there was a four-month waiting list.
Mrs Jones hopes her condition hasn’t worsened as it could lead to complications.
Left untreated, lymphedema can lead to an infection known as cellulitis, where fluid starts seeping through the skin.
Evelyn MP Christine Fyffe said it was a sad blight on lymphedema sufferers to have to travel into East Melbourne for treatment.
“These people have faced life threatening illnesses, survived cancer and are trying to live as normal life as possible,” she said.
“It not right they should have to travel all the way to the Mercy for treatment.”
Mrs Jones said it was a retrograde step for the government to shut such a service down.
But a spokesman for Health Minister Daniel Andrews said the government was committed to providing quality health services.
He said that State Government had more than doubled its funding for Eastern Health since coming into office in 1999.
The spokesman said the government was working with Ranges Community Health to reinstate the service.
However, he said the government now faced difficulties with getting the right person for the job.