Hon Tony Ryall
Minister of Health
21 February 2013 Media Statement
Health Minister Congratulates MidCentral DHB
Health Minister Tony Ryall congratulates the doctors and nurses of MidCentral District Health Board (DHB) for providing
better care to cancer patients and their families.
“The health professionals at the DHB are dedicated to providing cancer patients with better, faster cancer services and
are regularly making improvements,” says Mr Ryall.
“One of the recent improvements is they can now treat patients who develop neutropenia*, following chemotherapy, at day
clinics rather than in the hospital. In the past patients would spend a number of weeks in hospital, now many patients
can be cared for in a day clinic and return home to their families after treatment.”
“The DHB expects services to continue to improve with the appointment of two dedicated cancer nurse coordinators next
month – one full time and one part time nurse. These specialist nurses will act as a single point of contact so patients
and their families no longer have to deal with multiple people from different parts of the health service.
“Last year a fourth multi-million dollar cancer radiation machine was installed to meet the growing demand for radiation
treatment in the region and to ensure the DHB can continue to provide treatment within the four week international gold
standard.
“This government is committed to improving cancer services and in last year’s budget invested an additional $33 million
to further reduce wait times and deliver better services.
*Neutropenia is a condition where patients have a lower than normal level of a particular type of white blood cell. This
condition affects the body’s ability to fight off infection.
ENDS