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onemargie's avatar
onemargie
Member
8 years ago

letter to cameron dick

hi everyone, I finally got around to writing to Mr Dick our health minister in Qld and I wasn't surprised at all when I received a call yesterday from the Royal Brisbane liason officer saying she had received the email I sent to him. She was lovely to talk to and very understanding and told me that yes it is 2 1/2 years to wait to see the surgeon and then at least another 12 months til surgery. She basically said they don't have the resources or funding available and that skin cancer surgery takes priority over breast reconstruction. So after my chat to her I wrote back to Mr Dick and let him have it knowing full well he would not of read my first email at all. I acknowledged that skin cancer surgery is most definitely important, but so is breast reconstruction and it should take the same priority. I talked to Kate about the wait in Cairns being over 5 years and she said that's because they don't have any plastic surgeons there to do the surgery and that if any of you guys are on the wait list up there you should call the hospital because they are now trying to out source this procedure privately. I will keep you posted if I hear anything back from Mr Dick. Margie :)

2 Replies

  • onemargie's avatar
    onemargie
    Member
    8 years ago
    hi there cosette I'm on Brisbane north side so nowhere near cairns! thanks anyway Margie :)
  • Cosette's avatar
    Cosette
    Member
    8 years ago
    @onemargie, my understanding is that there's only one surgeon doing breast reconstruction on the public system and only on one day a month. But they're going to bring in outside surgeons and hold special weekend clinics to assess the patients on the waiting list. The idea is to get through the backlog, get some surgeries done, and reduce the wait list. Even if you're not on it, I encourage you to contact the hospital and enquire.