Golden Bay cancer patients are set to benefit from the government’s nationwide expansion of community infusion services.
Health Minister Simeon Brown says about 13,000 additional cancer infusions were expected in 2025 and 2026, a 12 per cent increase compared with previous volumes.
Fourteen new infusion centres will be introduced to meet demand and allow patients to receive treatment closer to home.
Golden Bay is included in the new centres, which will be dispersed through to 2028.
“This expansion puts patients at the centre, enabling more New Zealanders to start treatment earlier, receive care closer to home, and spend less time travelling for appointments and more time with their families,” Simeon says.
“Once fully implemented, the expansion will deliver 218 more chair-days of treatment space each week.
“This will allow hundreds more patients to be treated weekly across the country, with each chair typically used by three to five patients per day.”
Simeon says the expansion is supported by a $210 million investment announced as part of Budget 2024 to upgrade facilities, purchase equipment and increase the workforce needed to deliver additional treatments following the Pharmac funding boost.
“This includes actively recruiting additional staff to deliver infusion services, including senior medical officers, specialist nurses, pharmacists and other allied health professionals,” Simeon says.
“Our focus is on ensuring patients can access cancer treatment sooner and closer to where they live. That means not only funding new medicines, but making sure the health system has the capacity to deliver them.”
