Concord Hospital to offer radiation oncology service for cancer patients.

Concord Hospital has announced an advanced radiation oncology service will be available for cancer patients in the hospital’s new comprehensive cancer centre when it opens later this year.

The comprehensive cancer centre will open as part of the hospital’s $341 million redevelopment, giving patients access to a wide-range of cancer treatments under the one roof including medical oncology and radiation oncology.

Icon Cancer Centre has been selected to deliver the radiation oncology service which will include the state of the art Varian IDENTIFY™ Surface Guidance System.

Sydney Local Health District Chief Executive, Dr Teresa Anderson, said a radiation oncology service at Concord Hospital is an excellent addition to the hospital’s cancer services.

“The delivery of radiation oncology will enable our patients and their families to receive comprehensive cancer care close to their home. This is another way the redevelopment of Concord Hospital is helping to meet the healthcare needs of the growing community of the inner west.”

The Concord Cancer Centre will have the capacity to deliver about 900 new courses of radiation therapy each year, offering precise and complex treatment for advanced cancers.

The IDENTIFY system uses advanced technology to deliver highly precise radiation to the tumour with the potential to reduce radiation exposure to healthy organs, improve treatment accuracy and reduce treatment times. It also eliminates the need for patients to have permanent, and often unwelcome, tattoos.

Sydney Local Health District clinical director for cancer care, Clinical Associate Professor Ilona Cunningham, welcomed the new service to Concord and thanked the community for their enthusiastic support.

“It has been a long held ambition of my fellow Concord clinicians to be able to offer an expert on-site radiation oncology service and radiotherapy to cancer and haematology patients,” she said.

“I am very pleased to be able to assure our patients that they no longer have to travel to have their radiotherapy, they will have their life saving or palliative radiation consultation and treatment close to home at Concord Hospital.”

When it is complete in late 2021, the Concord Hospital redevelopment will see the delivery of a new clinical services building, increasing the hospital’s inpatient and outpatient capacity with aged care services, cancer care and the National Centre for Veterans’ Healthcare.