Children undergoing cancer treatment at The Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH) are experiencing a new model of care thanks to the generosity of the Children’s Cancer Foundation (CCF) and their Million Dollar Lunch community who have helped bring the purpose-built Wurun Treatment Centre to life.
Backed by a philanthropic investment of $255,212 by the Children’s Cancer Foundation, the dedicated oncology treatment space is transforming the experience for children requiring low-complexity procedures under anaesthesia or sedation, while also freeing up operating theatres for patients requiring more complex care.
Since opening in March, the Wurun Treatment Centre has already delivered significant benefits, with early evaluation demonstrating improved patient and family experience, a strong clinical safety profile, enhanced coordination of oncology services and more efficient use of operating theatre capacity.
For seven-year-old Harry, the impact has been life changing.
Diagnosed with an aggressive blood cancer (Pre B Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia) earlier this year, Harry became the first child to receive treatment in the Wurun Treatment Centre. Since then, he has returned for four further lumbar punctures with intrathecal chemotherapy and will continue using the space throughout the next two years of his treatment journey.
His mum, Jess, said the dedicated treatment centre had helped make an incredibly difficult journey just that little bit easier.
“Cancer steals so much of a child’s childhood already, so you don’t want it to take any more than it has to.
The Wurun Treatment Centre has created such a calm and welcoming environment for Harry. It’s quieter, less overwhelming and feels so much more personal. Having familiar nurses and a dedicated space where everything happens makes an incredibly difficult experience feel just that little bit easier. When your child is having treatment week after week, those things really matter. They don’t take away the cancer, but they do make the journey a little less daunting for the whole family.”
Chief Executive Officer of the RCH, Dr Peter Steer, said the Wurun Treatment Centre represented a significant step forward in paediatric cancer care at the hospital.
“The Wurun Treatment Centre represents an important advancement in how we deliver cancer care. By creating a dedicated environment for these procedures, we’re improving the experience for children and families battling childhood cancer while improving the use of our operating theatres for patients across the hospital. This is an outstanding example of what can be achieved when clinicians and philanthropic partners work together to reimagine the way care is delivered.”
The new treatment centre is the latest milestone in a partnership spanning more than three decades between CCF, the RCH Foundation and the RCH.
Since first supporting the Children’s Cancer Centre in 1992, CCF has contributed more than $30 million towards improving outcomes for children with cancer across the Melbourne Children’s Campus. Through investment in clinical research, specialist staff, family support services, patient amenities and innovative models of care, CCF has played a significant role in advancing childhood cancer care and improving the experience of children and families. They also helped establish the RCH Children’s Cancer Centre Clinical Trials Unit in 1998 and, alongside My Room, raised $23 million to redevelop the Children’s Cancer Centre and associated research facilities in 2002.
Chief Executive Officer of CCF, Margaret Fitzherbert, said the Wurun Treatment Centre was only possible because of the extraordinary generosity of the their supporters.
“Every family deserves access to the very best care during one of the most difficult periods of their lives. The Wurun Treatment Centre exists because our incredible supporters and Million Dollar Lunch community believed in that vision. Together with the longstanding support of our principal partner, Crown Resorts Foundation, they have invested in a space that will improve the experience of children with cancer and their families for many years to come.”
Projects like the Wurun Treatment Centre demonstrate the vital role philanthropy plays in healthcare – enabling innovation, accelerating new models of care and investing in initiatives that improve both the experience of patients today and the future of paediatric healthcare.
Chief Executive Officer of the RCH Foundation, Ryan Brown, said the project demonstrated how philanthropy can foster paediatric healthcare excellence and create lasting change for children.
“The Wurun Treatment Centre is a powerful example of what becomes possible when philanthropy backs innovation. Through the generosity of the Children’s Cancer Foundation and its supporters, we’ve been able to enable more than a treatment space – it’s established a new model of care that is improving the experience of children and families today, while creating capacity to care for even more patients into the future. This is an investment not only in better care, but in a stronger, more sustainable health system that will continue to benefit children for generations to come.”
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