Nuclear medicine experts warn desperately needed PET scanners could sit 'dormant' in Victoria because there are not enough staff to run them, despite a $44 million investment from the state government in the high-tech machines.
abc.net.au/news/vic-state-election-promise-pet-scanner-staffing-concerns/101785602Nuclear medicine experts have warned desperately needed PET scanners could sit "dormant" in Victoria because there are not enough staff to run them, despite a $44 million investment from the state government in the high-tech machines.
"Ultimately you need three to four staff per PET scanner, so delivering another 30 to 35 staff in the next three years is just not realistic." RMIT is the only university in Victoria which runs a nuclear medicine course and averages around a dozen graduates each year."If we are only producing that many graduates a year, that is not enough for a workforce that will need to expand exponentially," RMIT medical radiations program manager Kath Metzger said.
"This profession is very patient-focused so there is a hesitancy for some staff to take leave when they know the scanner will be shut down and their patients are waiting for important scans."Premier Daniel Andrews said the $44 million pledge included workforce funding and that the new PET scanners would reduce out-of-pocket costs and limit travel time for regional and outer-suburban patients.
But Mr Scalzo, who worked at the Peter McCallum Cancer Centre as a senior technologist for 17 years, said while the scanners were desperately needed, there needed to be a bigger focus on training staff now, for when the machines arrive."We would like to see the government give us a heads up on the planning, to help us progress to increasing our student intake numbers in future years.
"It would be great to see students coming from country Victoria to train and head back to their home town … there will need to be financial incentives to get staff out there," he said.Ms Metzger said RMIT had been so worried about the staff shortages in the nuclear medicine field, it increased its intake of students by 50 per cent for 2023.
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