HRH CROWN PRINCESS MARY OF DENMARK TO LAUNCH NEW MCGRATH ELDERS BREAST CARE NURSE
Friday, 25 November 2011 13:41
HRH Crown Princess Mary of Denmark will today announce the appointment of Jo Beven as the new McGrath Elders Breast Care Nurse based at the Royal Flying Doctor Service in Broken Hill.
Families in Far West NSW, South West QLD and North Eastern SA will now have access to the support of the McGrath Elders Breast Care Nurse thanks to generous funding from long-term McGrath Foundation Corporate Friend, Elders.
As McGrath Elders Breast Care Nurse, Jo will literally take to the skies and travel across the country by plane to provide invaluable physical, psychological and emotional support for families in rural and remote areas experiencing breast cancer. Jo will hold clinics at the Broken Hill Royal Flying Doctor Service base and on the regular clinic runs that fly to 18 remote locations across three states.
This is the first position of its kind in Australia and has been made possible thanks to a unique friendship between the McGrath Foundation and the Royal Flying Doctor Service, as well as the amazing corporate support and fundraising efforts of Elders and its staff.
Jo Beven has worked in healthcare since 1986, when she began working as a registered nurse at Broken Hill Hospital. She moved into oncology in 2000 and has spent the last eleven years caring for women experiencing cancer.
As a Broken Hill local who is very familiar with the work of the Royal Flying Doctor Service, Jo is looking forward to taking on this new role.
“I know from my experience in oncology that I can make a big difference to the lives of many women. Having someone to talk to does help and because of the tyranny of distance, many women living in the Outback have had to be content to talk to their oncologist on the phone. I will be there to support them through their treatment and give them the advice and information they need,” said Jo.
McGrath Foundation Programme Director, Helen Paynter, is thrilled about the placement of the McGrath Elders Breast Care Nurse and says it will help realise Jane McGrath’s dream.
“Jane dreamt that every Australian family experiencing breast cancer would have access to a breast care nurse no matter where they lived or their financial situation. Jo’s appointment as McGrath Elders Breast Care Nurse based at the Royal Flying Doctor Service base in Broken Hill brings us one step closer to the realisation of this dream as we reach out to some of the most remote locations in the country.
“When Jane passed away in June 2008, we had just four McGrath Breast Care Nurses. Today, thanks both to funding from the Australian Government and the extraordinary ongoing support of individuals and businesses right across Australia, the McGrath Foundation has helped support over 10,000 Australian families, with 65 McGrath Breast Care Nurses currently working and another six positions funded and ready to be placed, growing our network of McGrath Breast Care Nurses to 71,” said Helen.
Supporting Australians in some of the country’s most remote areas, for more than 80 years, the Royal Flying Doctor Service is best known for its emergency rescue missions. Last year alone, it transported more than 40,000 patients across Australia. Increasingly though, the Royal Flying Doctor Service is at the frontline of delivering essential healthcare where it is needed most, such as taking doctors, nurses and specialists out to remote communities on ‘fly around clinics’.
Chief Medical Officer for the Royal Flying Doctor Service, South Eastern Section, Dr Anne Wakatama said, “We are delighted to welcome Jo Beven, the latest McGrath Breast Care Nurse into the Flying Doctor ‘family’. She will be an invaluable and much-needed addition to our primary healthcare team, providing support and empowering families through accurate and timely information and referral services during what is naturally a very stressful time.”
Long-term Corporate Friend of the McGrath Foundation, Elders has been working with its branches across the country to fundraise in excess of $330,000 over the past three years for the McGrath Foundation and is committed to continued fundraising efforts to support this role.
Elders CEO, Malcolm Jackman, said it was pleasing to see that the result of staff fundraising efforts were helping to fund the full-time McGrath Elders Breast Care Nurse to support rural and remote parts of Australia.
“Elders and its staff are a key part of regional and rural communities, and we’ve combined great fun with supporting a good cause and raised funds using some creative ways – including a “swear jar” in some local branches, sausage sizzles, and auctions of cricket memorabilia at client days.
“Whether it’s been big donations or small, the generosity of Elders staff and clients have each made a difference and helped turn this dream into reality,” Mr Jackman said.
