The fourth linac machine at Fiona Stanley Hospital will enable the radiation oncology department to treat more people each day
Western Australian oncology patients will benefit from greatly reduced waiting times and faster treatment with the commissioning of the latest in linear accelerator (linac) technology at Fiona Stanley Hospital (FSH).
The $2.5 million machine will help deliver significant improvements in targeted radiation therapies.
As the fourth machine at the hospital, it will enable the hospital's radiation oncology department to treat many more people each day and slash overall waiting and treatment times.
At present, non-urgent patients can wait up to four weeks for radiation therapy. Now there will be little or no wait, with potential capacity lifting to 200 patients per day.
Planning for the Fiona Stanley Hospital Cancer Centre included the staged installation of four linacs.
The extra machine also provides a buffer for maintenance downtime on the other linacs.
With four machines now in use, there will be even more patient-friendly treatment times between 8am and 5pm weekdays instead of the extended hours previously required to meet demand.