WIN Program
Westmead Cancer Care Centre
What's New?
14 May 2008: NSW Minister for Health officially opens Westmead Cancer Care Centre.
About the new Cancer Care Centre
Patients in the west of Sydney who need cancer care will receive world-class treatment and support in a new $17 million 'one stop shop' centre.
The new Westmead Cancer Care Centre will accommodate the services provided by the hospital's 18 Cancer Care teams, which offer specialised services covering all the major adult cancer types.
The centre model is based on the best of US-style comprehensive cancer centre services, combined with the cancer service's unique patient-friendly approach.
In the new centre, patients will receive diagnosis, a range of treatments and rehabilitation without the need to make separate trips to see different doctors.
The patient experience is greatly assisted by specialised “care coordinators” who support patients during their treatment and recovery journeys by coordinating hospital, community treatment or palliative care needs.
The $17.64 million Westmead Cancer Care Centre incorporates:
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medical oncology
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radiation oncology
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surgical oncologyhaematology
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psycho-oncology clinics
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day treatment and acute assessment unit
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allied health services including counselling, social work, physiotherapy and occupational therapy
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clinical trials unit
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satellite pharmacy
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radiation therapy including a Brachytherapy Suite
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co-located PET Suite.
The new Westmead Cancer Care Centre will deliver a range of services to cancer patients in a convenient one-stop-shop location.
Providing coordinated cancer care in a purpose built facility will help reduce stress and duplication, and ensure patients are cared for by the same team throughout their treatment journey.
The centre has seen an increase in outpatient activity over 16.28%, with up to 300 patients per day coming through the centre for consultation, procedures or treatment
With an ageing population, and a marked trend for people to live longer with cancer, it will be come increasingly important for people to have access to comprehensive cancer centres located throughout Sydney..
The cancer care team at Westmead has been at the forefront of innovation in delivering cancer services for some time. This new centre has been specially designed to support the wholistic, multidisciplinary approach to care that they have pioneered.
The new centre will also provide a base for the coordination of care for some types of treatment that can be delivered in the patient’s home.
When hospital-based care is required, this centre will deliver that care as seamlessly as possible, with less ‘clinical’, more comfortable environments designed to suit new models of care.
It will also provide a base for research, and for outreach services which can reduce the need to spend time in hospital.
The centre includes:
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A spacious day care suite for delivering treatment such as chemotherapy with 27 chairs, two apheresis rooms, three consult rooms, two isolation rooms and a three-bed acute bay
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Four outpatient clinic areas for consultation and procedures
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A dedicated satellite pharmacy for dispensing chemotherapy and medication
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Dedicated space for cancer patient family conferences and counselling
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Meeting rooms for multidisciplinary case conferencing where physicians, surgeons, radiologists and other clinicians as well as nursing staff, social workers, psychologists and other allied health staff can regularly discuss treatment options and plan treatment paths on a case by case basis
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A refurbished Radiation Oncology planning and treatment facility, with a new seven-bed recovery bay
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A dedicated Brachytherapy Suite for delivering radiation therapy to prostate and gynaecological cancers by placing radioactive sources directly into or next to the tumour
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A Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scanning suite, located directly above the Centre, for taking fine images that are particularly valuable in detecting and diagnosing cancers, particularly tumours, that evade other forms of diagnostic imaging
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Separate entry with drop-off parking at the door and a centralised reception
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A large clinical trials program
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Clinical support services including office space for medical and nursing staff, facilities for clinical trials and desk-based research.
Project snapshot
Westmead Cancer Care Centre
Cost: $17 million, plus $4 million Commonwealth funding for PET Suite
Opening: officially opened 14 May 2008
Design: start April 2004; completed May 2005.
Construction start: April 2006
Currently: complete.
Related development: PET Suite (due for completion in late 2006) and Brachytherapy Suite (due for completion 2007)
Facility: Some new build plus redevelopment of existing space (formerly occupied by Allied Health, which will relocate to the new E Block)
Location: Westmead Hospital, level 1
Architects: Woodhead International
WIN Partner (construction): Thiess
