Experience of cancer in Australia please

[Alexia]

I moved to Australia in 2007 and then after having 4 children there we decided to return to the UK in 2013. Unfortunately, in 2019 I was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer. I have been very lucky to have had a good response to my treatment and I'm still here and stable over 3 years later. However, recently I have begun to wonder if I would get better treatment in Australia than in the UK. The nurses strikes haven't directly affected me yet, but a shortage of staff means that when I have my 3 monthly scans I have to wait 1-2 months for the results. This causes anxiety for me and my family and could mean that if my treatment stopped working I wouldn't know and my cancer could be progressing without me knowing. It feels like this could be be just the beginning and with the increase in cancer diagnosis' expected after covid that there could be further delays in other aspects of my treatment in the future. I remember always having a pretty positive experience of healthcare in Australia although I have no experience of cancer treatment there. So, what I would like to know is if anyone here does have an idea what it is like to be treated for cancer in Australia? What out of pocket expenses might I expect, such as payment for prescriptions and scans.

I had always hoped to go back to Australia once the children had all finished school but I'm feeling more of a pull to go back again and try somewhere new.

[Toots]

I'm in Tasmania and know people who are receiving treatment for cancer.  One of them, now in remission was treated during Covid.  The others are currently receiving treatment.  As far as out of pocket expenses  ...............  I'm not so sure as a couple have private health insurance but the other people are retired and relying on Medicare.  They say apart from prescriptions (at a lower cost for pensioners) there have been no out of pocket expenses.  None of them can fault the treatment they are receiving.  

I don't know what it's like in other areas of Australia for cancer treatment but I would think it's similar to here.

Edited December 24, 2022 by Toots

[Marisawright]

Where would you move to?  It will depend where you go.  As yours is a pre-existing condition, you wouldn't be able to get private health cover for it for 12 months, so you'd need to rely on the public system.  I can't fault the public system in Sydney or Melbourne (which has one of the best cancer centres in the world), but I know I've heard bad things about Queensland, which may or may not be justified. 

[Bobj]

4 hours ago, Marisawright said:

Where would you move to?  It will depend where you go.  As yours is a pre-existing condition, you wouldn't be able to get private health cover for it for 12 months, so you'd need to rely on the public system.  I can't fault the public system in Sydney or Melbourne (which has one of the best cancer centres in the world), but I know I've heard bad things about Queensland, which may or may not be justified. 

@Marisawright In my wife's situation, it was definitely not justified

My wife, Jo, had metastatic breast cancer and the Dr from Townsville was so very patient with Jo, due to Jo's dementia. Indeed, all the staff at the Icon Cancer Unit in Mackay were extremely helpful when Jo came in every month for a blood transfusion. After a year of treatment, Jo's red blood cell count was doing fine and she was prescribed a pill a day rather than a blood transfusion. Sadly, her dementia got steadily worse and she succumbed to that most insidious illness last October.

All the staff at the 2 big hospitals in Mackay were always helpful and always gave that enormous feeling of compassion to us.

Costs, Not important for a loved one .

Cheers, Bobj.

[Toots]

@Bobj, I am so sorry to read about Jo.

[Tulip1]

Sorry to hear your sad news Bobj.  From the many stories you’ve told on here, it’s clear you had a wonderful life together  Take care. 

Edited December 24, 2022 by Tulip1

[Cath.C]

18 hours ago, Alexia said:

 What out of pocket expenses might I expect, such as payment for prescriptions and scans.

 

I've heard that some areas have very long weights for things like colonoscopies, even if you are having mild symptoms consistent with a bowel disease, so a lot of people do utilize private health.  Trying to figure out the typical out of pocket costs for someone not relying on the public system seems impossible, but I've read newspapers article with rather high out of pocket expenses.  

[Cath.C]

https://bmccancer.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12885-021-08756-x

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7967550/

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08-15/financial-cost-of-cancer-leaves-patients-in-poverty/11374356

What I am curious about, is if you can utilize private cover for diagnostic steps, and then go to the public system for treatment.  Apparently the public system is better about getting people with obvious acute  issues treatment, than about preventative and diagnostic services.  

 

 

 

[Marisawright]

1 hour ago, Cath.C said:

https://bmccancer.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12885-021-08756-x

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7967550/

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08-15/financial-cost-of-cancer-leaves-patients-in-poverty/11374356

What I am curious about, is if you can utilize private cover for diagnostic steps, and then go to the public system for treatment.  Apparently the public system is better about getting people with obvious acute  issues treatment, than about preventative and diagnostic services.  

 

The problem for the OP is that they'll be arriving in Australia having already had cancer. I'm sure you know that a private insurer won't cover pre-existing conditions for the first 12 months after arrival.

[ramot]

14 hours ago, Bobj said:

@Marisawright In my wife's situation, it was definitely not justified

My wife, Jo, had metastatic breast cancer and the Dr from Townsville was so very patient with Jo, due to Jo's dementia. Indeed, all the staff at the Icon Cancer Unit in Mackay were extremely helpful when Jo came in every month for a blood transfusion. After a year of treatment, Jo's red blood cell count was doing fine and she was prescribed a pill a day rather than a blood transfusion. Sadly, her dementia got steadily worse and she succumbed to that most insidious illness last October.

All the staff at the 2 big hospitals in Mackay were always helpful and always gave that enormous feeling of compassion to us.

Costs, Not important for a loved one .

Cheers, Bobj.

Sorry to hear the sad news about your wife   Bobj, from all your many interesting posts, it sounds as though you had a wonderful life together xM

[Bulya]

15 hours ago, Bobj said:

@Marisawright In my wife's situation, it was definitely not justified

My wife, Jo, had metastatic breast cancer and the Dr from Townsville was so very patient with Jo, due to Jo's dementia. Indeed, all the staff at the Icon Cancer Unit in Mackay were extremely helpful when Jo came in every month for a blood transfusion. After a year of treatment, Jo's red blood cell count was doing fine and she was prescribed a pill a day rather than a blood transfusion. Sadly, her dementia got steadily worse and she succumbed to that most insidious illness last October.

All the staff at the 2 big hospitals in Mackay were always helpful and always gave that enormous feeling of compassion to us.

Costs, Not important for a loved one .

Cheers, Bobj.

Sorry to hear this.  

[Cath.C]

On 24/12/2022 at 21:46, Marisawright said:

The problem for the OP is that they'll be arriving in Australia having already had cancer. I'm sure you know that a private insurer won't cover pre-existing conditions for the first 12 months after arrival.

It sounds like she is in it for the long haul though.  I don't know how old she is, but kids still in school, sounds like she is not terribly old, and a year investment waiting out the waiting period might be worth it.
Assuming she has a status that will allow her to return, with her existing diagnosis. 

[Quoll]

So sorry to hear about your wife, @Bobj it sounds like you had a wonderful life together.

As for the OP it's probably going to be better in the major cities. You hear good and bad stories everywhere really. I don't think it's inherently better or worse here than there, health services are stretched all over and if you can get private health cover you've definitely got more options.  If you've had private cover overseas I believe the pre-existing conditions may be waived - well, that was the impression I got when renegotiating rejoining private cover on our return, might be worth checking (think BUPA to BUPA) 

[Alexia]

Thanks all for your replies. Sorry to hear about your wife @Bobj.

I'm 41 years old. We all have dual nationality and should not have any restrictions for entry to Australia. We're considering Bendigo currently as I have a friend there and there is a spangly new hospital there with a cancer centre. We've never had private health cover. I hadn't considered it an option since my diagnosis.

[Loopylu]

On 24/12/2022 at 10:39, Alexia said:

I moved to Australia in 2007 and then after having 4 children there we decided to return to the UK in 2013. Unfortunately, in 2019 I was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer. I have been very lucky to have had a good response to my treatment and I'm still here and stable over 3 years later. However, recently I have begun to wonder if I would get better treatment in Australia than in the UK. The nurses strikes haven't directly affected me yet, but a shortage of staff means that when I have my 3 monthly scans I have to wait 1-2 months for the results. This causes anxiety for me and my family and could mean that if my treatment stopped working I wouldn't know and my cancer could be progressing without me knowing. It feels like this could be be just the beginning and with the increase in cancer diagnosis' expected after covid that there could be further delays in other aspects of my treatment in the future. I remember always having a pretty positive experience of healthcare in Australia although I have no experience of cancer treatment there. So, what I would like to know is if anyone here does have an idea what it is like to be treated for cancer in Australia? What out of pocket expenses might I expect, such as payment for prescriptions and scans.

I had always hoped to go back to Australia once the children had all finished school but I'm feeling more of a pull to go back again and try somewhere new.

As others have commented, public hospital care in Australia can be hit and miss too. I don't think that you should move back to Australia solely based on a belief that the public health system may be better.  I think you would need a few more reasons than that for a major upheaval in your living conditions which could increase your stress levels and set you back.  I think it also depends on where you live in the UK as to the quality of care  you receive. My Dad was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer in February 2021 and the care he received up until his death in February 2022 in Carmarthenshire. Wales was second to none and better than the care my friend's husband received in Brisbane (again with a terminal diagnosis).  

If you decide to move back to Australia for other reasons and base yourself in or near to a major centre then your care should be of a first world standard (as you would get in the UK, Canada, EU, NZ etc) but noting that I have read of other first world countries such as France having medical staff shortages too. A lot of first world countries have limited the number of doctor training places at the insistence of the medical unions and now that the baby boomer generation are retiring there is a shortage of medics all round.  This leads to first world countries poaching each others' doctors and those from poorer countries. 

[madsadie]

Hello Alexia, Firstly sorry to hear about your condition however pleased treatment is keeping you going. We are in a similar position - my partner (dual British/Aussie) was diagnosed stage 4 colorectal back in 2020 having just returned from Melbourne. So far treatment keeping him stable, but wondering about his being able to return to Australia. I think I read that for certain cancers (pancreatic/bowel) your chances of survival are higher over there, mainly I think due to GPs being able to order scans whereas here you have to be referred to a consultant. Whether it means the survival rate is higher once actually diagnosed I don't know. 

My partner hasn't lived over there for 30 plus years, so not sure he'd get free treatment via medicare. I wonder if anyone on here knows? He was there for 5 months in 2020 and has had numerous short visits in previous years. He has various relatives and friends there. 

It is a really hard decision but I would have thought the treatment would probably be similar to here. 

All the best.

[Marisawright]

8 hours ago, madsadie said:

my partner (dual British/Aussie) was diagnosed stage 4 colorectal back in 2020 ....I think I read that for certain cancers (pancreatic/bowel) your chances of survival are higher over there, mainly I think due to GPs being able to order scans whereas here you have to be referred to a consultant. Whether it means the survival rate is higher once actually diagnosed I don't know. 

I'm sorry to hear about your husband's diagnosis. Good to hear that he's stable.  I believe you are right that the higher survival rates in Australia are mainly due to early detection.  I know it's the case with melanoma.  

I think another the reason is also that in Australia, it's far more common for people to pay to see a private specialist.  Private specialists aren't better than those in the public system, but waiting times are much shorter.  To give you an example, with my husband's melanoma, he had the biopsy on Tuesday, got the result on Wednesday, and had the operation on the Saturday. He would've had to wait a month or so if he'd chosen to be treated in the public system, and that could have made a difference between removing it all and having a few rogue cells escape.

8 hours ago, madsadie said:

My partner hasn't lived over there for 30 plus years, so not sure he'd get free treatment via medicare.

If he's a citizen, yes, he will get treatment via Medicare.  Do remember, though, that treatment under Medicare isn't free.    It's only totally free if you're being treated in a public hospital.  Otherwise, doctors (GPs and specialists) set their own fees.  Medicare will only refund what they think is reasonable (they have a schedule of fees for different services), and that's nearly always less than the doctor charges, sometimes a lot less.  You pay the difference and it's not refundable even with private health insurance.

It would also be worth checking on your husband's medications.  Most drugs are on the PBS, which means he'll pay a subsidised price (although even that can be up to $40 per item).  If a drug isn't on the PBS, you pay the full price. 

https://www.pbs.gov.au/pbs/home

[Loopylu]

9 hours ago, madsadie said:

Hello Alexia, Firstly sorry to hear about your condition however pleased treatment is keeping you going. We are in a similar position - my partner (dual British/Aussie) was diagnosed stage 4 colorectal back in 2020 having just returned from Melbourne. So far treatment keeping him stable, but wondering about his being able to return to Australia. I think I read that for certain cancers (pancreatic/bowel) your chances of survival are higher over there, mainly I think due to GPs being able to order scans whereas here you have to be referred to a consultant. Whether it means the survival rate is higher once actually diagnosed I don't know. 

My partner hasn't lived over there for 30 plus years, so not sure he'd get free treatment via medicare. I wonder if anyone on here knows? He was there for 5 months in 2020 and has had numerous short visits in previous years. He has various relatives and friends there. 

It is a really hard decision but I would have thought the treatment would probably be similar to here. 

All the best.

Hi - sorry to hear about your husband’s diagnosis but good to hear that he is stable. If your husband is an Australian citizen and chooses to return to Australia to live then he will qualify for Medicare treatment. However, in our experience, you cannot just handover all the NHS medical notes and instead you would likely have to be referred by a GP for ongoing oncology specialist treatment. 
When we moved here in 2008, my Aussie husband had Stage 3 chronic kidney disease and could not shortcut the GP and waitlist for seeing a specialist. Queensland Health failed to treat his condition with certain drugs that slow progression of the disease and we blame this on moving between systems and care not being smoothly transitioned. Basically, the NHS tests and diagnosis were binned and we were back to square one. 
My husband is now on dialysis and hoping to go on the active transplant list. 
All the best with whatever you decide to do and try to enjoy every day that you still have your husband.