BCNA welcomes new Peta Murphy Breast Imaging Suite at Frankston Hospital

Thousands of people in Frankston and broader Mornington Peninsula communities will have access to comprehensive public diagnostic breast imaging at the new Peta Murphy Breast Imaging Suite at Frankston Hospital.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese opened the new service on Saturday 3 February.

BCNA’s CEO Kirsten Pilatti and BCNA’s Director of Policy, Advocacy and Support Services Vicki Durston were at the launch of the new service.

Welcoming the new service, Ms Durston said Peta Murphy was a strong advocate with Breast Cancer Network Australia (BCNA) and our network of people with a lived experience of breast cancer in driving awareness of the need for this service.

Ms Durston said BCNA had long been advocating for this service at Frankston Hospital, having become aware of the issue in 2020 after learning that patients at the hospital were being required to walk across a busy highway to access diagnostic imaging services.

 “We are delighted to see this new facility funded by the Victorian Government in her name,” Ms Durston said.

The $4.5 million suite – funded by the Victorina Government – will be the first comprehensive public diagnostic breast imaging service at Peninsula Health - encompassing mammography, ultrasound, biopsy.

The new service was named in honour of the late Peta Murphy MP who tirelessly championed better breast cancer care and treatment.

Peta was also a strong supporter of BCNA’s advocacy including finding a way for people with metastatic breast cancer to be consistently counted on all state and territory cancer registries.

The Peta Murphy Breast Imaging Suite is expected to deliver approximately 2,400 mammograms annually, supporting the estimated 6.3 per cent of Victorians diagnosed with breast cancer each year who live in the region – and will offer both internal and community-based referrals, eliminating the need for day-of-surgery transfers.

BCNA is aware that access to diagnostic imaging is an issue across Australia, with difficulties reported in New South Wales, Queensland, and particularly in Tasmania where there are reported significant wait times for public diagnostic mammography imaging available in Hobart.

We will continue to be a voice for our network by working with state and territory governments to ensure diagnostic imaging is prioritised and adequately funded. Any delay to diagnosis can result in poorer survival outcomes as breast cancer does not wait.