Peter Jones

Review of Olivia Newton-John Cancer Well...

I have had much to do with the Olivia Newton John ...

I have had much to do with the Olivia Newton John Wellness Centre. I find it less than satisfactory. Charges are sometimes levied for the second rate wellness provided by the centre. Funds raised are not spent on patients. There is no board governing the centre and it is managed by the Austin Board. Funds raised seem to be spent in other areas of the hospital. My wife has stage IV NSCLung Cancer and I am her carer. We have approached the centre from day one to run patient and carers groups. We have been turned back every time. There is no interest in running peer centred services which is the standard level of care in many sections of the health industry. My wife is on a trial. She has been told that people with cancer cannot run support groups. Instead you have to either pay a substantial amount of money to get the Austin to let you run a nurse led support group, or the run groups which purposefully exclude certain people. The yoga, art therapy etc, is OK, but is not ongoing. Patients get little more than a taster of what is on offer. Certain tumour groups are favoured over others, like Breast, Prostate and Brain cancer to the detriment of people with lung, pancreatic, colon, head and neck or rare cancers. Really, a great idea gone horribly wrong. The Austin and the Olivia Newton John Centre really don't seem to like or trust patient or carer input. When I have gone to carers' groups, eg, I have been directed on what I can and cannot say. Whatever, I don't need this sort of stuff in my life.