NUTRITIONAL SUPPORT FOR CANCER PATIENTS
Reverend the Hon. Dr GORDON MOYES: I direct my question without notice to the Hon. John Robertson on behalf of Mr Frank Sartor, Minister Assisting the Minister for Health (Cancer). Is the Minister aware that cancer patients need special nutritional support to help the body fight the disease, and to make up for the lack of appetite that frequently accompanies cancer and its intensive treatments? Is the Minister aware that the Complementary Therapies Access Review of 2005 was undertaken to determine what so-called complementary therapies were currently offered to cancer patients through New South Wales area health services, which included nutritional support? Is the Minister aware that two-thirds of the area health services do not employ a dietician to ensure that the special nutritional needs of cancer patients are being addressed, and that only 9 per cent provide any nutritional supplementation? Will the Minister indicate what steps will be taken to provide New South Wales cancer patients with adequate nutritional support for optimal cancer treatment?
The Hon. JOHN ROBERTSON: I will refer the question to the Minister Assisting the Minister for Health (Cancer) and undertake to get an appropriate response to Reverend the Hon. Dr Gordon Moyes.