Chris Hayes (Fowler, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last week I had the misfortune to have to present myself to Liverpool Hospital for an examination, and regrettably I had to have a small lesion taken off my chest. After the operation I was talking to the staff specialist, Dr Cains, who I have known for many years. He is a senior dermatologist attached to Liverpool Hospital. Regrettably there is not a professor overseeing dermatology at Liverpool any longer. The professor who was there has moved overseas, and Dr Cains fulfils the role of medical specialist. He not only conducts consultations with patients but also he is involved in training of staff and, more importantly, training GPs and future specialists in dermatology.

Dr Cains indicated to me that the hospital is in urgent need of a full-time professor in order to fulfil its split requirements in teaching and patient care. For the past six years the administration of the department has been conducted by an acting head who attends once a week. The teaching and clinical work as well as supervision of trainees is all overseen by a single staff specialist. Bear in mind that Liverpool Hospital has had $395 million invested into it by the New South Wales government. It is doubling its size. I understand that, when complete, it will be the largest hospital in the Southern Hemisphere, but regrettably there will not be a professor of dermatology at that institution.

Liverpool Hospital is a principal teaching hospital and research facility for the University of New South Wales and the School of Medicine of the University of Western Sydney. I have taken the opportunity to write to the government and to the University of Western Sydney asking for consideration to funding a professorial seat at the hospital to undertake this work. Regrettably, there are very few teaching institutions that specialise in skin based research. Liverpool Hospital could be a world leader. This is very important when you consider that 25 per cent of all GP consultations are for skin related diseases. The current epidemic of melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer in Australia further increases the need for teaching and research in this area. I hope that Liverpool Hospital will become an institution for research for the future. (Time expired)