A CAMPAIGN to secure a life-saving cancer scanning machine for the south-west has gained momentum with doctors across the region signing a parliamentary petition.
Twenty-six medical specialists and GPs from Warrnambool, Hamilton, Ararat and Stawell have got behind the push for South West Healthcare's Warrnambool hospital to have its own $3 million magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine.
The petition, organised by Liberal Party candidate Daniel Tehan, will be tabled in Parliament and a copy will be sent to Health Minister Nicola Roxon urging the Federal Government to speed up the licensing process.
Warrnambool haematologist-oncologist John Hounsell said if the Government did not grant a Medicare licence, a private operator would install a substandard version to cash in on the region's MRI gap.
He estimated that more than a dozen cancer patients had to be transported to Geelong from the south-west each week to use the screening service, endangering their well-being as well as costing the taxpayer.
"All my colleagues agree, whether they are GPs or specialists based in Hamilton, Warrnambool or Portland, that the south-west needs an MRI machine and it needs it now," Dr Hounsell said.
"This situation is almost peculiar to south-west Victoria in that we have oncologists here, we have the facilities, the staff but we don't have an MRI ? it doesn't make sense."
Mr Tehan said there was a groundswell of support for an MRI service and could have easily doubled the number of petition signatories.
"For me, getting an MRI machine for the south-west is a key campaign issue and one I will fight for in the lead-up to the next election," he said.
"Warrnambool's a growing regional centre of more than 30,000 people. There's also large populations in Portland and Hamilton and they have to travel even further to be scanned in Geelong."
Dr Hounsell led a deputation to Melbourne in September with SWH chief executive John Krygger, Wannon MP David Hawker and SWH board chairwoman Sharon Muldoon to urge Ms Roxon to fast-track a MRI machine licence.
But the deputation's mission encountered a setback after they were told by Ms Roxon's senior adviser that Warrnambool would have to wait for two years until a review was finalised.
The Federal Health Department did not return The Standard's calls yesterday.
The medical imaging technique is most commonly used in radiology to visualise the internal structure and function of the body.
MRI provides much greater contrast between the different soft tissues of the body than older CT scans, making it especially useful for images of the spine, brain and pelvis.
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