Provisional Fellow

Westmead Hospital is a key facility of one of Australia’s largest major health and medical research precincts and is the principal referral hospital for Western Sydney Local Health District providing district level health services to Parramatta, Holroyd and The Hills Shire LGAs including tertiary and quaternary services to greater Western Sydney, greater metropolitan Sydney, rural NSW and other states. The Westmead Health Precinct currently under development is envisaged to be the largest hospital building project undertaken in Western Sydney and will transform the iconic but ageing Westmead Hospital into an innovative, contemporary, and integrated centre that will continue to deliver high quality healthcare and expand the education, health, and research capability of the area.

Westmead Hospital is a leading centre of research, training and specialisation in all fields of Medicine and Dentistry, providing services in Cardiology, Cardiothoracic Surgery, Neurology, Neurosurgery, Kidney and Pancreas transplantation, Cancer Care, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Neonatal Intensive Care, Trauma, Bone Marrow Transplantation, Critical Care, Aged Care and Rehabilitation, Adult Acute Psychiatry (networked with the co-located Cumberland Hospital) as well as other specialised medical and surgical services.

Westmead Hospital is also the principal referral centre for other metropolitan hospitals within the district including Auburn Hospital, Blacktown and Mount Druitt Hospital.

Intensive care service in Westmead hospital includes 36 general, and 10 post cardiothoracic surgical ICU beds. General ICU bed numbers have expanded by 50% in early 2020. Cardiothoracic ICU has also recently moved into a newly built ICU pod. Common ICU admissions include complex medical cases such as sepsis, severe respiratory or cardiac failure, complicated bone marrow transplant, and surgical cases including trauma, neurosurgery, vascular, cardiothoracic, ENT, plastic surgery, urology, upper GI, hepatobiliary, and colorectal procedures.

The Westmead Hospital Emergency Department (ED) operates 24 hours, 7 days per week and manages all types and levels of illnesses and injuries. As one of six major trauma centres in the state, the ED also cares for people with the most severe physical injuries.

Westmead Hospital ED presentation numbers are among the highest in the state

Critical care services within Westmead Hospital are provided by the Intensive care unit and the medical and surgical high dependency units. Other specialist services that provide a high dependency level of care for patients within their clinical specialty wards include the Coronary Care Unit, Renal and Pancreas Transplantation and Haematology.

Over 120 different outpatient clinics for a number of different specialities and services provide ambulatory care to approximately 5,000 attendances per month.

Westmead Hospital is one of Australia’s largest centres for postgraduate training to specialist levels in all fields with over 100 PhD students and other postgraduate students supervised by Westmead Hospital scientists and clinicians. Westmead is home to internationally recognised institutes of health research, the most prominent being the Westmead Millennium Institute. The Westmead Millennium Institute is one of the largest medical research institutes in Australia, conducting research into a wide range of human disorders affecting both adults and children, including infectious and immune diseases, cancer and leukaemia, liver and metabolic diseases, eye and brain related disorders and heart and respiratory disorders.

Cumberland Hospital, co- located with Westmead Hospital provides primary and secondary mental health services to the local population and tertiary acute, extended and forensic mental health services to greater western Sydney and NSW. There is also a range of community mental health residential facilities, recovery support and specialist treatment services located on the campus. Westmead Hospital is also the principal referral centre for other major metropolitan hospitals within the district including Auburn Hospital and Blacktown and Mount Druitt Hospital.

The Westmead Breast Centre is the physical manifestation of the Westmead Breast Cancer Institute’s vision of a “one-stop shop” for the multi-disciplinary assessment and diagnosis of women with breast cancer by a team of health care professionals. Since the inception of the Westmead Breast Cancer Institute (BCI) in 1995, our priority has been to realise the vision that is the Westmead Breast Centre. The Westmead Breast Centre, located within Westmead Hospital on Level 1, was officially opened on December 12, 2003.

Patients who attend the centre are assessed by a multi-disciplinary team comprising of a surgeon, radiation oncologist, medical oncologist, radiologist, breast care nurse and allied health professionals, as needed. Imaging and pathology investigations take place within the same facility and are reported on at the time of by the specialists.

This centre provides a broad range of treatment clinics including multidisciplinary breast cancer, family history, plastic surgery, benign disease, metastatic breast cancer, surgical, radiotherapy, both new patient and follow-up clinics.

The Breast Assessment Clinic provides “one stop shop” mammography, ultrasound and pathology services, including BreastScreen NSW Sydney West assessment clinics.

The Breast centre and associated facilities have been specifically designed to accommodate the needs of a “multi-disciplinary team” approach to breast cancer care. All patients are seen by a team of doctors before and after their surgery.

The Centre also provides support services for ongoing care for patients and their families, including information, education, lymphoedema, counselling, support, support groups, gentle exercise, yoga and the Mates group for partners.

Every week, specialists treating a patient meet to develop an individual agreed care plan after input from the patient. Systems are in place to support both the patient and the doctor.

The Westmead Breast Centre was the first purpose-built treatment centre in Australia. It continues to be supported by a range of specialists and state-of-the-art equipment to diagnose, treat and support patients with breast cancer, today and every day.

Support and Education Services
The Westmead Breast Cancer Institute offers a range of support services to patients and their carers. Check our Support Services page for details of services available and upcoming events.

An extensive selection of information brochures are available covering a wide range of topics associated with breast cancer. Check the Information Brochures page for more details.

Using New Technology at the Breast Centre

The Westmead Breast Cancer Institute (BCI) is leading the way the use and evaluation of new technology.

Digital Imaging Services
An area wide digital imaging system is used across our four hospitals and four retail screening sites for both screening and diagnostic mammograms. Ultrasound is used widely at the institute in our breast treatment clinics