St Helens locals could soon avoid four-hour round trips for CT scans, with Premier Jeremy Rockliff promising a $2 million scanner for the east coast town if the Liberals are re-elected.
The election pledge would save around 650 patients each year from having to travel to Launceston or Hobart for diagnostic imaging. This includes 250 emergency cases and 400 community referrals.
“Those diagnostic services being delivered closer to home is fantastic for families,” Rockliff said. “The cost of a flight by helicopter would be about $45,000.”
“$10 million a day we are investing in our health services. And it is just so important to ensure that we are investing in health in the regions.”
Dr Michael Fox, who works in the emergency department at St Helens Hospital, said a CT scanner would completely change patient care, especially for people suffering a stroke.
“We had about 250 people that we sent out for CT scan last year through the emergency department alone,” Dr Fox said. “Of those, about 110, if we’d been able to scan here, we could have kept here.”
The new scanner would offer 24-hour diagnostic services, with radiologists coming from Launceston on six-week rotations.
For stroke patients, having access to this equipment means faster treatment and better recovery chances.
Right now, patients are often transferred without even knowing what kind of stroke they have had.
Local mum Jess said the service would make a huge difference for families facing medical emergencies.
“Having to make that commute to Launceston can be really just too much,” she said. “The reduction would just be life changing.”
Rockliff said the scanner would be funded through the Liberals’ $40 million regional hospital fund.
