Timeline uncertain on delivery of Wangaratta PET scanner

Wangaratta’s new $5 million PET scanner is still seemingly waiting in the wings almost three years after it was announced the life saving equipment would be coming to the rural city. The scanner, which can diagnose cancers, heart disease and brain disorders earlier, was first announced for Wangaratta in 2022 as an election pledge by then premier Daniel Andrews. In the 2023-24 state budget, $44 million was allocated to deliver new PET scanners at eight hospital locations across Victoria, including at Northeast Health Wangaratta. Euroa MP Annabelle Cleeland put parliamentary questions to Minister for Health Mary-Anne Thomas in 2023 and 2024, asking when Wangaratta could expect their new PET scanner, expected to improve access to better patient care for more Victorians and reduce travel for regionally based patients. “The Victorian Health Building Authority (VHBA) is currently in the planning and development phase of the project and are liaising with Northeast Health Wangaratta to identify the most appropriate location for the new PET scanner,” Ms Thomas answered on 21 August, 2024. Ms Cleeland put the same question to Ms Thomas again in May this year and was told in July “this question should be directed to the Minister for Health Infrastructure as the responsible minister”. The closest operational PET scanner to Wangaratta and much of the North East is located in Albury, where Ms Cleeland said people battling cancer in the region were currently travelling an hour each way to get a PET scan. “When the PET scanner for Wangaratta was first announced in 2022, there was enormous relief in the community knowing their travel time would be halved,” she said. “Years later, this critical service still does not exist, leaving patients facing exhausting travel at a time when they should be focusing on treatment and recovery. “The Allan Labor Government has failed to provide a timeline, failed to deliver the project, and failed the people who need it most.” Ms Cleeland said the PET scanner was an essential health service. “Every day this project is delayed is another day people in our region miss out on the care they deserve close to home,” she said. “Our community should not be forced to wait years for vital health infrastructure while promises gather dust.” Ovens Valley MP Tim McCurdy said the state government’s “vague assurance” the new PET scanner was still in planning was not good enough. “The people of our region cannot afford to wait years for essential health services,” he said. “Every delay means patients travelling long distances for life-saving scans, placing further strain on families and local health services. “Labor promised this PET scanner; two years later, they haven’t delivered, and the people of Ovens Valley are left wondering if they ever will.” Mr McCurdy said regional healthcare should not be treated as an afterthought and the community deserved timely access to medical technology. “Once again, regional Victorians are at the back of the queue when it comes to health investment… if this were Melbourne, the PET scanner would already be operational,” he said. A VHBA spokesperson said the Department of Health was working closely with each health service, as the specialised equipment required “specific site planning”. PET Scanners are complex pieces of equipment that require infrastructure specifically designed to accommodate that service, including radiation shielding, nuclear medicine preparation areas, uptake rooms and control areas. The Department of Health is undertaking a range of activities to develop and implement the program, including feasibility studies with health services to identify the most appropriate location for each scanner.

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