Radiotherapy in Australia

This report from the AIHW presents data from the second year of the pilot data collection on radiotherapy treatment which covers courses that started in 2014–15 and the waiting times for those treatments.

Radiotherapy in Australia: report on the second year of a pilot collection 2014–15 looked at almost 56,400 courses of radiotherapy and showed that public providers delivered 71% of courses. Breast, prostate and lung cancers were the most common reasons for radiotherapy and 69% of patients starting treatment were aged 60 and over. 58% of the radiotherapy courses were intended to cure disease, 38% of courses were delivered for palliative purposes and 2.7% were prophylactic. 

As far as waiting times, 50% of patients received treatment within 10 days of being assessed as ready for care, and 90% received treatment within 28 days.