Flying Skin Cancer Doctor: travelling doctor Dan Morgan to visit Gunnedah, Manilla and Walcha for first time

The Flying Skin Cancer Doctor is coming to Gunnedah, Manilla and Walcha this month for the first time.

Locals will have the opportunity to access professional skin cancer services, including treatment on the spot if necessary.

The Flying Skin Cancer Doctor has mostly covered ground in Queensland, travelling to over 40 rural and regional towns.

But, in March 2021, Dr Dan Morgan started visiting rural communities in New South Wales, hosting clinics every second week.

Locals are encouraged to pop into the one-off, single day clinics, because early detection saves lives, The Flying Skin Cancer Doctor's Elaine Pye said.

"Most of the locations we visit are areas where people have a higher skin cancer risk, but they may not have easy access to skilled and experienced skin cancer doctors and nurses," she said.

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"Our mobile service helps local people avoid unnecessary referrals to capital city health services, saving them time and money and ultimately providing cost savings for Australia's health system."

Normally, a doctor and a registered nurse travel together to each community, but Dr Dan has recently been travelling by himself because of the lockdown in Sydney.

Two out of three Australians are diagnosed with skin cancer before the age of 70, and it's not just older people who are at risk.

Melanoma is the most common form of cancer in people aged 25 to 29 years.

"In metro areas, we find that one in 10 people need skin cancer treatment, whereas in rural areas, one in three to four people need treatment," Ms Pye added.

"This is a combination of many factors but most importantly because people in rural and regional communities don't have the same access to advanced skin cancer services and so they often postpone seeing a doctor"

The upcoming clinics in the region are:

A skin cancer check costs $125 and you receive a $38.75 rebate from Medicare. No referral is required for a skin cancer check, but referrals from local doctors for skin cancer treatments are welcomed.

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