More radiology services are on the way to Upper Clutha residents but it’s not certain whether screening mammography will be one of them.

Wānaka Lakes Health Centre has received approval for a resource consent application to move two relocatable, prefabricated radiology buildings to the rear of the building to extend the range of radiology services offered.

Pacific Radiology (PR) currently has an ultrasound and x-ray lease at the Wānaka Lakes Health Centre. 

PR Otago Southland regional manager Paul Morrison told the Wānaka App that Wānaka is a “growth area”. The business will fly radiologists in from Christchurch to help provide the new services from March this year, which will include steroid injections under imaging.

Mammography ‘on hold’

Despite increased access to mammography being cited as a reason to support the resource consent application, PR Otago Southland regional manager Paul Morrison told the Wānaka App that “the business case for mammography didn’t stack up in terms of profitability” and the idea is “on hold”.

Wānaka women needing mammogram services currently have to travel to Queenstown or Alexandra to access these services.

Paul said a new mammography machine costs approximately $300K, and BreastScreen Aotearoa (the national publicly-funded programme which offers free mammograms to eligible women aged between 45 and 69 years) does not pay enough per woman to make it profitable.

PR is contracted by Screen South (part of BreastScreen Aotearoa) to provide screening mammography and assessment, but it is required to purchase the capital equipment for fixed sites, such as the portacoms proposed for Wānaka Lakes Health Centre.

PR is now looking for “a reasonable solution that works”, Paul said, such as a cheaper machine or surcharge options for mammography. 

“We might be six months away. We’ve got the room, but we’re just working out how to do it.”

Planning for mammography services 

Screen South general manager Louise McCarthy told the Wānaka App PR’s proposal would complement PR’s existing services in Frankton and “a full feasibility study for this service will commence shortly”.

“Pacific Radiology will work with ScreenSouth on the future planning and implementation of a potential fixed site for breast screening mammography in Wānaka,” she said.

A review of breast screening sites in the Otago Southland region six years ago identified a need to establish a fixed breast screening site in the Central Lakes region, as Dunedin and Invercargill were the only other localities with fixed sites, she said.

The proposed site for the radiology pods at the Wānaka Lakes Health Centre.

A fixed site at Frankton opened after the review, and a mobile screening bus (which had visited Wānaka for nine weeks every two years) stopped coming here.

The Frankton site provides both screening and diagnostic imaging for women and operates all year around, including some Saturday appointments, to accommodate Wānaka women who need to travel to the site, Louise said.

She acknowledged that removing the mobile screening unit from Wānaka had caused “inconvenience and there can be a cost impact for women involved with travel”, but said the bus schedule was managed across a number of locations to ensure women across the region can access two yearly screening within the travel times allowed under the BreastScreen Aotearoa national policy and quality standards. 

Access to mammography for Wānaka women

National Screening Unit data shows that (at December 31 2021) 2,800 women in the Clutha District eligible for breast screening services. Of that group, 2,268 women had completed their breast screen in the past two years, resulting in breast screening coverage of 81 percent, which exceeds the national screening programme’s yearly breast screening target of 70 percent.

Louise said Screen South’s goals include that 90 percent of eligible women will be within 60 minutes’ travelling time of a screening unit (mobile or fixed) 

The Pacific Radiology site in Frankton.

She said Screen South had previously offered to provide transport for women from Wānaka to Frankton for mammogram services after concerns were raised, but the offer was not taken up. 

“We would be open to reconsidering this option if it is something that Wānaka women would like to pursue,” Louise said.

Future radiology services

A three-year consent period has been approved for the portacoms.

The application said this would provide the health centre with enough time to design, consent and construct a permanent extension which would provide additional space to house the radiology services proposed, as well as other health care services.

IMAGES: Supplied