Cape Town - Groote Schuur Hospital has unveiled several newly-acquired machines which will be integral in the treatment of various cancers, as well as infrastructural improvements to its Radiation Oncology Department.
On Monday one of two new linear accelerator (Linac) machines worth R47 million each, along with a CTsimulator, Orthovoltage treatment and new Brachytherapy suite, were unveiled by Health MEC Nomafrench Mbombo.
The new Truebeam Linac is one of only two in the province, with the other to be placed at Tygerberg Hospital.
Head of Radiation Oncology, Dr Jeannette Parkes, said: “It’s work that began a few years ago. It involved careful planning and execution and it was completed in the last few weeks.
“More importantly, this work and these projects will change the way that we function within the department and the way that we do business, allowing us ultimately to upgrade and improve the oncology services that we offer to our patients.”
The department sees about 3000 new patients a year, of which approximately half will receive radiotherapy as part of their treatment, Dr Parkes said.
“We installed four very different pieces of equipment, but they all form an integral part of the delivery of high-quality cancer treatments to our patients,” head of medical physics, Nanette Joubert, said.
“The Truebeam linac is our only linac with high-energy radiation which is very important in treating larger patients with deep-seated tumours. What this means for modern radiotherapy is that very high dose rates for radiotherapy are possible.
“This shortens the time that the patient would then need to lie on the treatment couch. This quicker treatment, in combination with modern immobilisation equipment, offers modern radiotherapy with increased accuracy in treatment delivery with the protection of normal surrounding organs. This is ultimately the goal of radiotherapy.”
Mbombo said the health infrastructure had cost nearly R80m.
“What we are trying to do with the machine is about trying to meet the issue of the right to health, quality health.”
Fish Hoek resident and cervical cancer patient Geraldine Nelson, 50, praised the hospital and staff for providing humane and quality treatment, with visits to the hospital “feeling like a sense of hope”.
“For me, I’m looking forward to it and to being cured of my cancer. For me it’s all about comfort and feeling at ease and being treated as a human,” she said.
“It gives me hope. Five days a week and for five weeks you must attend this radiation, and it gives me hope. For me, there is life.”