Hospitals won't be PET-friendly | Fraser Coast News | Local News in Fraser Coast

STATE-OF-THE-ART technology needed to diagnose some specific forms of cancer will not be finding its way into Fraser Coast hospitals any time soon.

Yesterday Premier Anna Bligh backed up Queensland Health’s message that Positron Emission Tomography scanners were only suitable for use in major tertiary-care hospitals.

The need for a PET scanner was highlighted by Dundowran father Vince Failla last week when he came forward to tell how he had been mis-diagnosed at the Hervey Bay Hospital and would have died had he not sought a second opinion.

It was only after he travelled to Melbourne and was given a PET scan that Mr Failla was correctly diagnosed and treated.

Mr Failla’s comments came after a controversial report released by the Australia Institute of Health and Welfare said cancer patients on the Fraser Coast were up to eight per cent less likely to survive within five years of diagnosis than their city cousins.

Ms Bligh was on the Coast yesterday to announce the building of Qld’s first solar farm in Hervey Bay. She also announced $2 million would be spent on installing solar panels on the roof of Hervey Bay Hospital.

When asked why the solar panels were a better use of funding than PET scanners Ms Bligh said bringing solar power to Hervey Bay had been an election promise.

“It is estimated that Hervey Bay health services will save up to $70,000 on their energy bills each year by producing approximately 510 kilowatt hours annually with these solar panels,” Ms Bligh said.

“These savings can be used by hospitals to improve health service for patients.”