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Contact: Elise Davies, 68028 Chris Brook

Sunday, June 14, 1998.

NEW SERVICE MEETS THE NEEDS OF LYMPHOEDEMA PATIENTS - KNOWLES

Victorian Government initiatives in the future planning of health care have encouraged the development of a service which will help bring relief to people in the Geelong region who suffer from the debilitating condition of lymphoedema, the Health & Aged Care Minister, Rob Knowles said today.

Launching the Geelong Hospital Lymphoedema Clinic, Mr Knowles said Geelong patients would be able to utilise the expertise of lymphoedema specialists from the Mercy Hospital for Women through the innovative ‘hub and spoke’ model of service delivery.

“The Geelong Lymphoedema Clinic will be run by local staff, backed up by the Mercy Hospital,” he said.

“The Geelong staff will be trained and supported by the Mercy’s lymphoedema specialists. The Mercy is the only dedicated specialist lymphoedema facility in Victoria and is widely recognised as a centre of excellence, and has had its specialist clinic since 1994.

“The hub and spoke model will allow this expertise to be readily available to people in Geelong and the south-west.”

Lymphoedema is a disorder of the lymph nodes, which can cause considerable disability through the swelling of their limbs. Many sufferers must wear special compression garments to help stabilise their condition.

The condition affects three times as many women as men, and can result from cancer treatments - often breast cancer management.

“The new clinic at the Geelong Hospital is a considerable improvement for sufferers of lymphoedema in Geelong and the south-west,” Mr Knowles said.

“The local community is able to utilise both locally-based treatment and the specialist skill of the acknowledged experts on the condition in Victoria through the hub and spoke model of health care.

“The hub and spoke model allows Victorians living in regional and rural areas to have access to the same quality of specialist services as people living in central Melbourne.”

Mr Knowles said the Victorian Government has made $100,000 per year available to subsidise or supply pressure garments to people with lymphoedema through its $100 million, four-year Strategy for Carers commitment.

“Lymphoedema garments can be very expensive and the funding ensures that those people who can least afford to pay can still have access to the garments they need,” he said.

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“In extreme cases, swelling of the limbs from lymphoedema can render a person almost immobile, and can lead to depression and a deterioration in health and lifestyle.”

Mr Knowles said the Victorian Government assisted people with permanent and long-term disabilities through the Program of Aids for Disabled People program, which received a $7.1 million increase in the April 21 State Budget - to take annual spending to more than $14 million.

The Minister said the hub and spoke method of linking specialist health services with regional and rural hospitals was a key element of the Victorian Government’s $900 million ‘Metropolitan Health Care Services Plan ‘, launched in 1996.

“The Plan is upgrading Melbourne’s health care services to ensure equitable access to high quality services into the 21st century,” Mr Knowles said.

“Bringing high technology health services to people living away from the inner suburbs underpins the plan, which is the most ambitious and most far-reaching of its kind this century.

“The benefits of this Plan, and the hub and spoke method and new technology available are now being demonstrated with the Geelong Hospital Lymphoedema Clinic.

“Victoria has taken the lead in many facets of hospital and health care over the past six years. The Government’s ongoing initiatives ensure that our State continues to provide a world-class hospital system with high care and service standards.”

NOTE: Time & venue of Mr Knowles’ launch: - 11.30am today (Sunday), Geelong Hospital cafeteria, Level 3, Birdsea Wing, 135 Ryrie St. Geelong.

Media inquiries:

Graeme Walker, Department of Human Services, Media Unit 9616 7296.

Serena Williams, Press Secretary 9651 5799; 0412 683 876.

Internet:

(F:press/Lymph/gw/12.6.98)

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