About us
This website was set up to inform people about the wide variations in quality and safety of care and treatment costs of cancer treatmentsOur Story
One woman lost 15% of her body weight but received the same dose of chemotherapy at an exclusive private hospital, and private breast 'clinic'. Her oncologist also worked at a large public hospital, where all his public patients were weighted prior to each dose of chemotherapy and if they lost over 10% of their body weight, the hospital policy was to ajdust the dose, to match their changed height/weight ratio. She ended up broke, and with chronic ill health. On moving to a large public hospital, a new oncologist told her that chemotherapy for grade I breast cancer was only worth 2% reduction in risk of reocurrance. Aother woman was given radiotherapy despite having severe lymphoedema from lymph node removal. When her skin broke down during radiotherapy, she was refused antibiotics. When her breast developed lymphoedema she was ignored. When the lymphoedema became infected nobody swabed the wound to check what type of infection she had. She is now booked in for a full mastectomy after two years of chronic cellulitis. Another woman was admitted to a small surgical hospital for febrile neutropenia post chemotherapy for leukaemia. She was left in an open ward, with no infection control procedures, no education, no access to trained nurses or other health professionals. Confused and frightned, she discharged herself from hospital, developed a severe illness in the community and was admitted very ill, to another hospital. Another woman was given chemotherapy for breast cancer in her twenties, without any discussion of infertility, or referral to IVF. She subsequently realized she was infertile post treatment, her marrage broke up and she is now suffering severe depression. And yet another woman was given different types of chemotherapy, after being told that her relapse of breast cancer 'could not be surgically removed'. After 10 months of continouse chemotherapy, the tumor had grown instead of shrunk and her health was terrible. She subsequently went to a public surgeon, and was told the tumor could be quickly removed, and asked why her oncologist had not referred her to a surgeon in the first place..., why the surgeon's phone calls and letters were ignored...' These are real women's stories, they all involve cancer treatment, and they all deserve to be heard.
ABC 7.30 report on private cancer treatment
The ABC 7.30 report has agreed to do a story about people going through cancer treatment in the private health system. It will focus on overservicing involving both pathology testing and medical treatments, badly managed treatments that are well below minimum standards set in the public health system, lack of access to qualified nursing staff, pharmacists, physiotherapists and other health staff, excessive and unexpected costs and lack of feedback, and accounting mechanisms. They will commence this story in March, and it may go to air soon after that.
Knowledge and choice
I believe in getting all the information you can first before before making choices and also knowing all the options not just what you are being told by one professional - you do not have to make a decision without knowing what you are making a decision about - remember doctors are only people too and it is my responsibility as the owner of my body to make decisions about my health.
