Convoy funds new portable bladder scanner for cancer patients at Port Kembla Hospital

The Illawarra Cancer Carers is a locally based organisation, providing funding and support to cancer patients in the Illawarra, with no paid coordinator, and over 270 volunteers.

Their mission is to; “provide essential physical resources, emotional and research support in order to obtain a better caring environment for cancer patients in the Illawarra” They also provide funding for specialist equipment for cancer treatment in the Illawarra. The group also works closely with Port Kembla Hospital palliative care ward.

The Port Kembla palliative care ward and afterhours service provide a service to palliative care patients covering the area from Helensburgh to Gerroa. Based out of Port Kembla Hospital, the staff attends to patients on the ward and also in the community. The community patients they attend to are palliative care adults and children who are linked to their service.

The Illawarra Cancer Carers submitted an application to the Illawarra Community Foundation, for the purchase of a portable bladder scanner for the use of palliative care cancer patients. The portable bladder scanner will give staff the ability to scan patient’s bladders, and based on their findings, attend to their needs accordingly. The afterhours palliative care team look after adults and children with a life limiting illness, including a terminal cancer diagnosis, within the community setting in order to make families and carers as comfortable as possible within their own homes. At the moment the team has a bladder scanner in use in the palliative care ward, however this is not portable. Currently without a portable machine, patients need to attend an emergency department for this procedure to be attended to.

“The Illawarra Cancer Carers certainly appreciates the generosity of the Illawarra Community Foundation in providing a grant for the purchase of such a valuable piece of equipment” stated President Ian Mackay. “ Provision of the bladder scanner accords well with our mission which includes providing essential equipment to improve the wellbeing and comfort of cancer patients in the Illawarra”.

The Illawarra Cancer Carers are the second charity/group to benefit from the success of the 2016 i98FM Illawarra Convoy, after the Illawarra Community Foundation donated $500,000 to Camp Quality in January.

“We are happy to fund the purchase of a portable bladder scanner to benefit cancer patients in the Illawarra” says Mark Rigby, i98FM Illawarra Convoy Manager. “This equipment will make it easier for staff to treat cancer patients within the home setting, and take away the stress of having to attend hospital for the bladder scans for the patient.”