Nuclear medicine experts have warned desperately needed PET scanners could sit "dormant" in Victoria because there are not enough staff to run them, despite a $44 million investment from the state government in the high-tech machines.
During the November election campaign, Labor promised to deliver eight scanners to hospitals in Ballarat, Shepparton, Sunshine, Epping, Werribee, Warrnambool, Frankston and Wangaratta by 2026.
"I do not believe we have enough technologist staff to man those eight scanners, they could potentially be sitting dormant, sitting vacant," RMIT nuclear medicine stream leader Mark Scalzo said.
"Ultimately you need three to four staff per PET scanner, so delivering another 30 to 35 staff in the next three years is just not realistic."
Positron emission tomography (PET) scans provide detailed 3D images of organs and tissue and are used by nuclear medicine technologists to diagnose and treat patients with cancer, as well as heart and brain diseases.
They look at cellular changes to see how the body is working and can detect changes in organs and tissues earlier than traditional computerised tomography (CT) or magnetic resnonance imaging (MRI) scans.
RMIT is the only university in Victoria which runs a nuclear medicine course and averages around a dozen graduates each year.
Last year, there were just seven graduates.
"If we are only producing that many graduates a year, that is not enough for a workforce that will need to expand exponentially," RMIT medical radiations program manager Kath Metzger said.
"We need to increase the workforce to support our patients effectively and we need support to bring more students in."
The waitlist for a PET scan is between four and six weeks, and there is already a shortage of nuclear medicine technologists to service the 27 PET scanners across Victoria's private and public system.
"There are shortages particularly in regional and rural areas, where some scanners can't be staffed while technologists take leave, which means the community is impacted," Ms Metzger said.
"This profession is very patient-focused so there is a hesitancy for some staff to take leave when they know the scanner will be shut down and their patients are waiting for important scans."
Premier 'confident' of staffing levels
Premier Daniel Andrews said the $44 million pledge included workforce funding and that the new PET scanners would reduce out-of-pocket costs and limit travel time for regional and outer-suburban patients.
"I think we are confident we have enough people that work in that nuclear medicine part of our health system," he said.
"They [the scanners] don't all turn up on one day, they will take some time and that should mean we've got enough time to either recruit or train up staff."
But Mr Scalzo, who worked at the Peter McCallum Cancer Centre as a senior technologist for 17 years, said while the scanners were desperately needed, there needed to be a bigger focus on training staff now, for when the machines arrive.
"There was no engagement with the industry prior to the election announcement," he said.
"We would like to see the government give us a heads up on the planning, to help us progress to increasing our student intake numbers in future years.
"There are avenues for technologists to come from overseas, but they are usually radiographers who re-train."
Mr Scalzo said it would be particularly hard to operate the PET scanners in regional areas and called on the government to consider incentives for students.
"It would be great to see students coming from country Victoria to train and head back to their home town … there will need to be financial incentives to get staff out there," he said.
'My biggest fear is this won't reach the patients'
Ms Metzger said RMIT had been so worried about the staff shortages in the nuclear medicine field, it increased its intake of students by 50 per cent for 2023.
"We have done that proactively … but we should be planning to support a workforce ready to go when the scanners come in, in three to four years," she said.
"Nuclear medicine is such an incredible career, and we need assistance to support students and increase awareness about the profession."
Ms Metzger said she did not believe the government was doing enough workforce planning now, with the private system deploying more PET scanners and technologists burnt out from working in hospital settings during the pandemic.
"My biggest fear is this [the scanners] won't reach the patients and the community when it needs to," she said.
"I'm worried about the person who has been diagnosed with cancer and they have to wait to find out whether it's curable or not."
