Hon Tony Ryall
Minister of Health


21 February 2013 Media Statement

Health Minister Congratulates MidCentral DHB

Health Minister Tony Ryall congratulates the doctors and nurses of MidCentral District Health Board (DHB) for providing better care to cancer patients and their families.

“The health professionals at the DHB are dedicated to providing cancer patients with better, faster cancer services and are regularly making improvements,” says Mr Ryall.

“One of the recent improvements is they can now treat patients who develop neutropenia*, following chemotherapy, at day clinics rather than in the hospital. In the past patients would spend a number of weeks in hospital, now many patients can be cared for in a day clinic and return home to their families after treatment.”

“The DHB expects services to continue to improve with the appointment of two dedicated cancer nurse coordinators next month – one full time and one part time nurse. These specialist nurses will act as a single point of contact so patients and their families no longer have to deal with multiple people from different parts of the health service.

“Last year a fourth multi-million dollar cancer radiation machine was installed to meet the growing demand for radiation treatment in the region and to ensure the DHB can continue to provide treatment within the four week international gold standard.

“This government is committed to improving cancer services and in last year’s budget invested an additional $33 million to further reduce wait times and deliver better services.

*Neutropenia is a condition where patients have a lower than normal level of a particular type of white blood cell. This condition affects the body’s ability to fight off infection.

ENDS

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