Summer rush puts heat on MoleMap

MoleMap is booked up for at least six weeks in several parts of the country, forcing the melanoma-screening company to employ extra staff.

Waiting lists are longest at the Hamilton and Christchurch clinics, which are full until mid-February and late January, respectively.

The earliest available appointment among the four MoleMap clinics in Auckland is January 11.

Chief executive Adrian Bowling said there had been a rush of bookings since early November and the company hoped to deal with the jump in demand by employing at least three extra nurses.

"The demand has certainly exceeded our expectations this year."

He said new nurses would be employed at the Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch clinics, but training them would take at least three weeks.

MoleMap was also looking at opening another clinic in Cambridge to take pressure off the Hamilton one, which is limited to operating one day a week in its current premises.

MoleMap was established eight years ago and now has 17 clinics nationwide.

A clinic has just opened in Dunedin and another is scheduled to open in Palmerston North next year.

There are also two clinics in Australia.

Mr Bowling believed a host of recent television programmes highlighting the dangers of melanoma had fuelled people's desire to get their skin checked.

Some of the programmes had focused on young people dying of melanoma.

Mr Bowling also attributed the heightened concern about skin cancer to initiatives such as SunSmart, which promotes the "slip, slop, slap, wrap" sun-safety message.

MoleMap's service costs $225 for an initial consultation, which involves a nurse or medical technician taking specialist photographs of moles and other skin lesions. The images are then viewed by a dermatologist, who notifies the patient's doctor of any potential problems.

Follow-up photographs start at $170, depending on the number of moles imaged.

MoleMap recommends annual re-screens for people at high risk of contracting melanoma.

The Cancer Society does not endorse dermoscopy, the service provided by MoleMap and others, saying it is unaware of studies showing that routine screening reduces deaths from melanomas.

Instead, it advocates that people carry out self-checks and see a doctor immediately if changes in moles or freckles occur.

But Mr Bowling said MoleMap was picking up a higher-than-average rate of melanoma and was therefore helping patients whose skin cancers might otherwise have gone undetected.

Skin cancer

* The most common cancer in the country, with New Zealand having one of the highest rates in the world.

* There are nearly 50,000 new skin cancers a year, including 1800 cases of melanoma (the most serious form of skin cancer).

* About 250 people die of skin cancer a year - 200 of them from melanoma.

* The face and neck are the most common sites for skin cancers, particularly squamous cell carcinoma (a raised, crusty, non-healing sore) or basal cell carcinoma (a pale, red or pearly raised lump).

Source: www.sunsmart.co.nz (link below)