Cancer Archives | Page 3 of 7 | South Western Sydney PHN

26 October 2023

Look Good Feel Better is a free cancer support program run by the Cancer Patients Foundation.

The program is designed to support patients in managing the most common physical and psychological impacts of treatment, helping them face their cancer diagnosis with confidence.

Through face-to-face workshops on skincare, make-up and headwear, the program assists with the management of the appearance-related side effects of treatment, while a range of virtual workshop topics help participants learn ways to improve energy, mobility, nutritional health and mental wellbeing.

A Home-Delivered Confidence Kit service is also offered for those who feel more at ease accessing the program from the comfort of home, with the confidence kits containing a range of skincare and cosmetic products, in addition to practical written and video guides.

The program is open to any adult or young adult undergoing any type of treatment for any type of cancer.

Workshop venues, dates and times can be viewed at lgfb.org.au/workshop and registration easy via the same link, or via free call on 1800 650 960.

Home-Delivered Confidence Kits can be requested at lgfb.org.au/home-delivered-confidence-kit.

In 2024, the following workshops are planned:

Face-to-Face workshops

Liverpool Cancer Wellness Centre
Campbelltown RSL Club

Virtual workshops

Skincare and Makeup, and Wigs and Headwear
Feel Better Fridays

Check for dates at lgfb.org.au/workshop

07 September 2023

All cervical screening participants now have the choice to self-collect their own Cervical Screening Test sample.

A self-collected sample is taken from the vagina and is checked for human papillomavirus (HPV) – a common infection which causes almost all cervical cancers.

Find out more about self-collection Download How to take your own sample

What is cervical cancer?

Cervical cancer is the growth of abnormal cells in the lining of the cervix, the lowest part of the uterus or womb. Most cervical cancers are caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV).

What is the Cervical Screening Test?

The Cervical Screening Test is how we screen for cervical cell changes so they can be monitored or treated to prevent cancer from developing. It’s for anyone with a cervix who has ever been sexually active – regardless of gender identity, sexuality or sexual history.

Who should have a Cervical Screening Test?

If you have a cervix and are aged 25 to 74, you should have a Cervical Screening Test every five years.

More cervical screening options

Everybody attending for a Cervical Screening Test can choose if they would like their clinician to collect their sample or if they would like to collect their own sample. This is called self-collection. Self-collection involves a vaginal / front hole swab. The collection device looks like a long cotton bud.

How do I know when I’m due for my next test?

The National Cancer Screening Register sends invitation letters to start screening when you turn 25 and reminders when your next test is due. The register collects your info from Medicare, so if your name does not match your Medicare card, you can change it in the National Cancer Screening Register by calling them on 1800 627 701.

07 September 2023

As we near Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October, BreastScreen NSW has launched its 2023-2024 awareness campaign “Breast cancer doesn’t wait”, which reminds women early detection is the key to successful treatment and a full recovery.

Women with breast cancer often do not have symptoms. While they are getting on with their lives, the cancer can silently be taking hold.

A breast screen with BreastScreen NSW takes only 20 minutes every two years, and the check is free. There are more than 250 screening locations across NSW. All screening is completed by female radiographers.

Screening is recommended for women aged 50 and over and for Aboriginal woman from aged 40. Its goal is to improve survival rates of women by detecting breast cancer early.

One in seven women – they may be a friend or work colleague – will develop breast cancer at some point in their lives. More than 1,000 women died from breast cancer in 2020 in NSW.

Despite the startling breast cancer statistics, more than 620,000 – or 50 per cent – of NSW women aged 50 to 74 have not had their recommended breast screen in the past two years (as of July 2023).

For that age group, a breast screen is the best way to find breast cancer early – before a change or lump develops.

South Western Sydney breast screening rates for 2021-2022:

All women – 41.5 per cent
Aboriginal women – 37.2 per cent
CALD – 40.1 per cent

Research shows many women with a busy lifestyle do not prioritise their health. Health checks, such as regular breast screens, are forgotten or appointments overlooked.

BreastScreen NSW has released a promotional video to highlight the message that “Breast cancer doesn’t wait” and why regular breast screening is crucial for early detection and treatment.

There are a number of BreastCancer NSW clinics conveniently located across South Western Sydney.

Permanent clinics:

Bankstown, ground level, Civic Tower, corner Jacobs Street and Rickard Road
Bowral, Bowral Specialist Centre, Suite 4/70 Bowral Street
Campbelltown, Mawson Centre, 4 Browne Street, ground Level, Units 3-5
Liverpool (screening) 157-161 George Street, Units 3-5 (screening and assessment), 102 Bigge Street

Mobile clinics (September to February 2024):

Tahmoor (until 18 September), Tahmoor Community Centre car park, Harper Close
Cabramatta (19 September to 2 February 2024), McBurney Road car park beside PCYC

Talk to your GP or allied health practitioner if you have any concerns about your breast health or the screening process. They are well-placed to give advice or provide additional information.

A BreastScreen NSW factsheet is available and explains why women should breast screen and what to expect before, during and after their mammogram. It is available in 28 language versions, including English.

You can book a free breast screen by visiting breastscreen.nsw.gov.au or call 13 20 50.

For more information about breast cancer and options that fit your situation, visit Cancer NSW.

15 August 2023

Supporting Choice for Cervical Screening is a national project which aims to generate evidence about how the choice for self-collection can be implemented in different services and settings, to ensure equitable access and increased participation for people who currently experience barriers to cervical screening.

The project is co-led by the University of Melbourne and the Daffodil Centre, a joint venture between Cancer Council NSW and the University of Sydney.

Participants can take part in an interview as an individual (up to 60 minutes) or as part of a group with colleagues (up to 90 minutes). The interview will be held online via Zoom or Teams. Participants taking part outside of their salaried time will be reimbursed with a $100 gift card.

If you would like to participate, please click here.

For enquiries, contact the Supporting Choice team via email at cervical-team@unimelb.edu.au

25 July 2023

Support people from different cultural backgrounds to learn about cancer and the tests available for cancer screening.

Cancer Institute NSW education resources for multicultural communities are available for four topics, each topic includes up to 11 languages. An English language facilitator manual is also available.

Cervical screening flipcharts

Flipchart available in English, Arabic, Assyrian, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Farsi, Khmer, Korean, Spanish, Thai, Vietnamese, Bengali, Dari, Nepali, Tibetan, and Turkish.

Email: CINSW-CervicalScreening@health.nsw.gov.au

Cervical screening flipcharts

Bowel screening flipcharts

Flipchart available in English, Simplified and Traditional Chinese, Arabic, Italian, Greek, Assyrian, Macedonian, Korean, Vietnamese and Tibetan.

Email: CINSW-bowelscreening@health.nsw.gov.au

Bowel screening flipcharts

Breast screening flipcharts

Flipchart available in English, Simplified and Traditional Chinese, Arabic, Italian, Greek, Spanish and Vietnamese.

Email: cinsw-breastscreennsw@health.nsw.gov.au

Breast screening flipcharts

Healthy living and cancer prevention flipcharts

Flipchart available in English, Macedonian, Mongolian, Nepali, Samoan, Spanish, Tagalog, Urdu, Vietnamese

Email: CINSW-prevention@health.nsw.gov.au

Healthly living and cancer prevention flipcharts

Include in your email: The list languages required and your postal address.

Flipchart specifications

Flipcharts are A3-sized (297mm wide by 210mm high), spiral bound, with inbuilt stand to easily display.

Cancer Institute NSW multilingual resource directory

This directory is a repository for all of the Cancer Institute NSW’s translated resources, including videos, factsheets, flipcharts and webpages. With resources translated in up to 38 languages, spanning the cancer prevention, screening, and treatment continuum, this directory will support service providers to direct their clients, patients, and communities to resources in their language. The directory will be updated regularly as we develop new resources.

Multilingual resource directory

For more information on Cancer Institute NSW multicultural initiatives, email cinsw-multicultural@health.nsw.gov.au

Visit Cancer Institute NSW for more information on cancer prevention and screening.

26 June 2023

Arabic speaking GPs are being sought to champion the Arabic-speaking breast screening community engagement initiative.

The initiative is addressing the low breast cancer screening rates among Arabic-speaking women in South Western Sydney.

BreastScreen South Western Sydney, South Western Sydney Local Health District, Cancer Institute NSW and other key agencies and organisations, including SWSPHN, have partnered to develop an Arabic-speaking Breast Screening Community Engagement Plan.

Through culturally appropriate education and activities, the plan aims to improve breast screening participation rates and address barriers to screening for eligible women.

The project team is targeting the Canterbury-Bankstown and Liverpool LGAs which have the highest numbers of women not undertaking breast screening, but is also engaging across the region.

If you would like to champion this project or have any questions, please contact SWSPHN Priority Populations Program Advisor Rachael Taylor via email at Rachael.Taylor@swsphn.com.au

30 May 2023

June is Bowel Cancer Awareness Month, a timely reminder of the prevalence of bower cancer – Australia’s second deadliest cancer – and the importance of bowel cancer screening.

The National Bowel Cancer Screening Program is vital to reducing the number of deaths from bowel cancer in Australia. People with cancers diagnosed through the program have a 40 per cent lower risk of dying than people who had not been screened.

However, between 2018 and 2020, the annual bowel cancer participation rate for people aged 50 to 74 in South Western Sydney decreased from 36.7 per cent to 35.5 per cent. Our region has one of the lowest annual bowel screening participation rates in NSW.

In addition, only 67 of our region’s 412 general practices have practice software integrated with the National Cancer Screening Register (NCSR).

This month, we’re encouraging more general practices in our region to register for the National Cancer Screening Register.

10 May 2023

The strong focus on primary care, with the tripling of the bulk billing incentive and investment in the health workforce to better meet the health needs of the Australians in the 21st century, were among the welcome features of Tuesday’s Federal Budget.

South Western Sydney Primary Health Network (SWSPHN) Acting Chief Executive Officer, Kristen Short, said there was little doubt primary care had been struggling in recent years, with fewer practices in a position to bulk bill, further highlighting the need for strong and ongoing funding commitment for the sector.

“The $3.5 billion committed to bulk billing incentives, $98.2 million for new Medicare rebates for patients who require consultations of longer than 60 minutes and $445.1 million to support team-based care in general practice, are welcome measures to support the revival and protection of a healthcare system which has served us well for decades,” she said.

Other investments of interest to primary care, in particular general practices in South Western Sydney include:

$358.5 million for Medicare Urgent Care Clinics
$143.9 million for after hours primary care
$91.5 million to improve mental health by addressing workforce shortages

Ms Short said SWSPHN had a particular focus on innovative projects like iRAD, the New to General Practice Nursing program and My Care Partners to build capacity and support our general practices in delivering accessible, effective and timely care to our community.

She noted investment in digital health ($951.2 million); increasing the number of nurses in primary care ($10.7 million); and increasing incentives for general practices to employ a range of health professionals to provide team-based primary care ($445.1 million) would support those projects which were already improving the health of our region.

“Primary care is the cornerstone of our healthcare system, and SWSPHN looks forward to continuing to work with and support primary care providers across our region on the projects, services and other activities funded in this budget.

“We particularly welcome the focus in the budget on multidisciplinary team care and voluntary patient enrolment and look forward to seeing how it complements our local medical neighbourhood model of care, My Care Partners, which has been working for the past two years to reduce avoidable hospital admissions and enhance care coordination for people with multiple chronic diseases.”

06 April 2023

One in seven women in NSW will develop breast cancer in their lifetime.

Key risk factors for developing breast cancer are being female and getting older – 75 per cent of women diagnosed with breast cancer are over 50.

BreastScreen NSW provides free screening mammograms for women between the ages of 50 and 74 at mobile and permanent clinics across our region.

Find out more about breast cancer screening in South Western Sydney

Download these flyers to find out more:

Breast screening and you South Western Sydney service schedule

17 February 2023

Updates have been made to the National Cancer Screening Register.

The updates include:

A patient’s address can now be updated directly by their GP or practice nurse through the National Cancer Screening Register (NCSR) Healthcare Portal.
National Bowel Cancer Screening Kits can now be ordered in bulk to your practice and distributed directly to patients during consultation through the Alternative access to kits model. Single kits are still able to be ordered directly to a patient’s home. All orders are made via the NCSR healthcare portal.

National Cancer Screening Register Healthcare Provider Portal

The NCSR has released a Healthcare Provider Portal which is able to integrate with clinical information systems to enable providers (GPs, nurses and other specialists) to access and submit bowel and cervical screening data electronically in a self-service fashion.

The portal eliminates the need for healthcare providers to contact the National Register via fax, paper and phone, while also making it easier for healthcare providers to submit information.

You can use the National Register in real-time to:

order your patient a National Bowel Cancer Screening Program Test Kit (to their home)
bulk order National Bowel Cancer Screening Program Kits directly to your practice
check patient screening histories
receive reminders for patients overdue for screening or follow-up
check and update patient details
manage patient program participation
submit information about your patient, such as colonoscopy or colposcopy information
nominate other people to assist your patient, including another doctor or a personal representative

The Healthcare Provider Portal tab will link you directly with:

User Guide
Quick Start Guide
Step by step, walk-through videos for set-up, logging-in and registration, patient searches, ordering and reporting

Technical support is available to assist with accessing the portal and integrating your clinical software. Call 1800 627 701 (Call back options are available).

Find out more about the Healthcare Provider Portal