Peter Lindsay (Herbert, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

And you will do it in a very fine way, Mr Deputy Speaker. There is evidence now that you can assess people after one dose of chemotherapy using a PET/CT scanner to see if that chemo is going to work rather than having to wait for three or four doses. That is beneficial for the patients and for the professionals looking after them. Surely, in this modern day and age we can get a PET scanner in Townsville. PET scanners have applications for all sorts of cancers. We do really need to make sure that we get one in the city. I am advised by the professionals in Townsville that at present many people are simply not travelling to major cities for PET scans. If we had a local scanner then these patients would be more likely to get their medical conditions attended to.

PET scanning was first available on the Medical Benefits Schedule 10 years ago. It is now in all capital cities and it is time that it came to Townsville. The Minister for Health and Ageing also needs to look at the kinds of services that are available under the Medical Benefits Schedule. Currently, they are quite limited and that makes it uneconomical in a place like Townsville to install a machine. There is also not the customer base to fund the machine to make it economical for the city. I ask that the Medical Benefits Schedule be extended to include all of the conditions that could so well be treated by a PET/CT scanner in Townsville.

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