New cancer fund boosts local services

Health Minister Jonathan Coleman says new initiatives under the Cancer Service Improvement Fund are delivering better, faster cancer treatment.

“A range of projects are underway as part of the first round of the Cancer Service Improvement Fund which was established to support DHBs in delivering improved cancer care,” says Dr Coleman.

“These 23 initiatives will streamline cancer care, and ensure more patients are seen within the new 62-day Faster Cancer Treatment target. They will also help DHBs to achieve the level of care set out in the national tumour standards.

“Over the next four years the Cancer Service Improvement Fund will allocate $11.2 million to projects run by DHBs and regional cancer networks to improve the quality of care for patients and support developments in particular localities.”

The first round of Cancer Service Improvement Fund projects include:

• Developing a single point of access clinic for patients with lung cancer in the Northern region so scans, biopsies and procedures like bronchoscopy can be carried out on the same day.
• Upskilling scientists to speed up reporting times for cancer laboratory tests in Auckland.
• Developing local clinical pathways for GPs to follow when referring patients with suspected cancer, utilising an online web portal resource across Capital and Coast, Hutt Valley and Wairarapa DHBs.

The initiatives will be fully implemented by mid-2015. A second round of projects will get underway later next year.

The Government has invested almost $63 million on the faster cancer treatment programme over the last six years.

“We need to sustain the progress made in detecting and treating cancer early, and reducing the impact in the community,” says Dr Coleman.

Under the new national target which came into effect from 1 October 2014, 90 per cent of patients are to receive their first treatment within 62 days of being referred urgently with a high suspicion of cancer by June 2017.