Prostate support group urge Hunter Health to apply for funded nurse role

In last month’s Federal budget it was revealed that $6 million dollars had been put aside to fund 14 prostate nursing positions for a three year term across the country.

In 2009 Tamworth was awarded a prostate nurse under a similar arrangement through the Prostate Foundation of Australia, although once the funding ended, at the end of the three year term, the position was dissolved when further funding could not be found.

Support Group spokesperson Ian Austin said that the budget news was a great step in the right direction, and only hopes that Hunter New England Health lobby hard to win one of the 14 roles.

“There is a real need in Tamworth and the region for a prostate cancer nurse,” Mr Austin said.

“It is a fully funded role that would be of no cost to them (HNEH), so I just hope that they put their hand up.” 

Mr Austin and the group hand delivered a letter to the office of Tamworth Hospital General Manager Catharine Death on Tuesday, as well as delivering one to Member for Tamworth Kevin Anderson.

HNEH Executive Director Susan Heyman said that “HNEH welcomes any initiative to improve the resources for the care of prostate cancer patients.”

“We are always looking for opportunities for services and will assess the expression of interest to determine if it meets our needs,” Mrs Heyman said.

While HNEH was unable to give specific statistics about the prevalence of prostate cancer in the Tamworth region, Mr Austin had a simpler method to estimate how many locals have dealt with the most commonly diagnosed cancer of all Australians.

“There are 30 houses on my street and I know that there are six other people who have had a prostate cancer diagnosis, there are also eight people in the Film and Sound Archive and four of them have had a diagnosis as well,” Mr Austin said.

“A nurse in Tamworth could service the entire north of the state, and they offer so much.”