Sue Sloane spent 17 years working in the Bourke Street Health Service oncology unit, 10 of those as nurse unit manager. She retired in 2019 and has kept updated on the service via membership of the Goulburn Palliative Care and Oncology Support Group.

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Ms Sloane says staff are doing their utmost under difficult circumstances but are being 'let down' by a 'lack of' planning.

"Staffing is always allocated at the minimum requirement needed to maintain a service, covering the basic sick leave and annual leave," she said.

"There are very little or no backfill arrangements allocated to replace staff in unexpected situations for nursing, administration, security, domestic services etc in these small, specialised units. So it is no wonder that staff are struggling and put under enormous pressure to make difficult decisions to maintain staff patient and safety."

The Southern NSW Local Health District (SNSWLHD) has rejected this, saying all patients could access "safe and reliable treatment."

Ms Sloane spoke out after a recent Goulburn Post article in which community member Fran Croft criticised the Health District over oncology staffing levels. She intervened after a friend's treatment was to be postponed due to staff sickness. Following Mrs Croft's representations, a nurse from the south coast was brought to Goulburn to undertake her friend's and other people's treatment.

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Ms Sloane said there was a "serious problem" when patients had to highlight these pressures. She described it as a last resort because those "at the coalface" were "working short and and doing everything they could to avoid this scenario."

The unit has an area-wide nurse unit manager, a clinical allocation of 2.5 to three fulltime staff and one part-time administration support officer. Ms Sloane says when fully staffed, the right skill mix exists. However she maintains there's insufficient provision for staff illness and growing demand.

This in turn could lead to delays in patient treatment and "substandard outcomes."

During her time, she said there were about 570 patients on the books, with 50 to 80 receiving treatment each month.

"It's become busier since I left and they are working with less staff," Ms Sloane said.

"...During the COVID postcode lockdowns and travel bans, 48 new patients from Sydney and the surrounding district were transferred to the Goulburn clinic to have their treatment. Another 70 were transferred back to Goulburn from Canberra for the same reason."

The figures, supplied last November, came from the oncology nurse unit manager after the Palliative Care and Oncology Support group conducted a review of needs.

The group was also told that the unit had increased from five chairs and one bed to six chairs to cope with demand.

Nevertheless, Ms Sloane says no other Goulburn Base Hospital department has this number of patients.

Further, she stresses that oncology is a highly complex area in which the correct skill mix is needed.

"Cancer is a known growth area in health," she said.

"One in three people will be diagnosed with cancer before the age of 80 and it's the second leading cause of death in Australia."

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A Health District spokeswoman previously said COVID had affected staff numbers in March when outside help was enlisted. But Ms Sloane believed the pandemic was being used for workforce shortages when more effort should be put into recruitment. She argues there are more line managers reporting to the chief executive than staff in the oncology unit.

In 2019, the state government allocated an extra $30m for the hospital's redevelopment. Part of this was for chemotherapy treatment services. Ms Sloane said she'd like to see more transparency on how this money would be spent and an assured timeline and location for the unit's transfer to Goulburn Base. The Health District did not answer questions about the oncology funding allocation.

The Health District's lease on the Bourke Street facility expires in January, 2023. A spokeswoman recently told The Post that no firm date had been set for the transfer.

"I would like to see it situated somewhere safe at the hospital, with an adequate staffing allocation," Ms Sloane said.

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A SNSWLHD spokeswoman said the oncology department would be relocated to the redeveloped Goulburn Base Hospital, next to ambulatory care. Planning was underway to mitigate disruption.

"(The Health District) is committed to providing high quality oncology services that meet the needs of the Goulburn community," she said in a statement.

"...To meet service demand, staff can be deployed from different parts of the District if and when needed. SNSWLHD continues to recruit for additional staff, including an oncology clinical nurse educator. The educator will work in alignment with the District-wide cancer nurse manager and a clinical nurse consultant who provide support to the Goulburn oncology unit.

"Despite staffing challenges, all patients who require treatment are able to access safe and timely treatment."

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