Government has moved to ensure Barbadians will soon no longer have to travel abroad for critical cancer treatment.
The state-of-the art linear accelerator (LINAC) machine, installed at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) about two weeks ago, was officially launched recently.
It is part of Government’s overall plan to provide the hospital with the advanced technology which Minister
of Health Senator The Most Honourable Jerome Walcott said would bring “a metamorphosis” to the management of cancer patients.
He said the LINAC machine would “allow doctors to see tumours with precision when treating patients, which means that the radiation beam can then be shaped more closely around the cancer, sparing surrounding skin, healthy organs and tissue from unnecessary exposure and cell destruction”. For patients it means shorter, more comfortable treatment sessions and fewer side effects.
The total cost of the project, including the acquisition of the LINAC, civil works, professional services and other associated costs was “approximately $10 million”.
Walcott noted the launch of the LINAC was especially important, at a time when Barbados was faced with the scourge of non-communicable diseases and cancer, which he said were responsible for eight of ten adult deaths, with the data showing that 25 per cent of those deaths were due to cancer, primarily cancer of the prostate, breast and colon.
In October, Government signed a $390 million agreement with a Chinese consortium to expand the QEH across the street to the adjacent Enmore complex. Facilities there will include an oncology centre equipped with another linear accelerator machine, provision for brachytherapy, a gamma CT facility, PET gamma
and a cyclotron.
“This upgrade in oncological services at the QEH is but the first step in a much broader transformation in Barbados’ health care,” the minister said.
Included in the planned improvements across the health sector is a $130 million upgrade of polyclinics and construction of new polyclinics.
Walcott said these planned developments would “not simply modernise the health infrastructure, but also represented Government’s renewed emphasis on health education, prevention, screening, early detection and early treatment to achieve better health outcomes”.
QEH chief executive officer Neil Clark described it as a landmark day for the hospital and for Barbadians.
“What we are really unveiling today is action, action leading to better outcomes, shorter waiting times and a future where cancer care in Barbados meets the highest international standards.”
He acknowledged the work done by the hospital’s clinicians, radiographers, physicists, nurses and administrative staff “who redesigned pathways, extended themselves and refused to accept long waits
as the inevitable”.
He said one of the most significant improvements in the hospital this year was “the reduction in waiting times for a cancer patient’s first outpatient appointment – from 140 days to under 30 days”.
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