Makes me see red
I read, today, an intersting article on the ABC website about some of the issues faced by rural and regional people who have breast cancer or are at high risk of developing it. I'm not as remote as th...
Forum Discussion
I agree with you on the issue of common sense @Zoffiel; it certainly is lacking. Western Australia's health care system is "City Centrified". All major health problems are automatically referred to city based health systems.
The only problem I can see with access to Breastscreen services is just that- screening only. Couple that with the van visiting the Kimberley region every 2 years leads to an unsatisfactory service. Also you have to be in town or available for the 2 weeks in June every second year the van visits. I was not in June 2015 due to family engagement and so missed out on a screening. So, prior to June 2017 when my world slipped on its axis and tossed me off, my previous mammogram was June 2013.
Telehealth is not big here in the Kimberley, usually due to equipment problems, lack of internet access, lack of bandwidth and often lack of health/medical staff.
Please understand that I am grateful to the system that sends me to Perth every 6 months even if it is for a 2 hour clinic visit, but I would rather get on an aeroplane and fly to Perth and get on another plane and go somewhere exciting - not a clinic visit. Travel and clinic visits on an age pension do not gel. Both are not financially possible. This experience is not what I had planned for retirement!!
The only problem I can see with access to Breastscreen services is just that- screening only. Couple that with the van visiting the Kimberley region every 2 years leads to an unsatisfactory service. Also you have to be in town or available for the 2 weeks in June every second year the van visits. I was not in June 2015 due to family engagement and so missed out on a screening. So, prior to June 2017 when my world slipped on its axis and tossed me off, my previous mammogram was June 2013.
Telehealth is not big here in the Kimberley, usually due to equipment problems, lack of internet access, lack of bandwidth and often lack of health/medical staff.
Please understand that I am grateful to the system that sends me to Perth every 6 months even if it is for a 2 hour clinic visit, but I would rather get on an aeroplane and fly to Perth and get on another plane and go somewhere exciting - not a clinic visit. Travel and clinic visits on an age pension do not gel. Both are not financially possible. This experience is not what I had planned for retirement!!