Closing the cancer care gap |
|
|
Someone is diagnosed with cancer every 10 minutes in NSW. It impacts thousands of people daily, including our colleagues and loved ones.
NSW Health teams across the state are doing incredible work to improve cancer care and outcomes, in areas such as prevention, research, diagnosis, treatment, policy, and palliative care, to name just a few.
We continue to receive outstanding patient feedback on the care and the kindness shown by our staff, which is incredibly important.
This edition profiles our remarkable staff and how they are supporting people affected by cancer – not only on World Cancer Day (4 February), but every single day. |
|
|
|
I’d also like to extend a warm welcome to all the new staff members who have joined NSW Health this year, including the more than 1,000 medical graduate interns starting their training in metro, regional and rural areas this month. Feel free to get in touch and let me know how you are settling in.
The NSW Women of the Year Awards 2024 finalists were announced this week, and include some amazing women from the NSW Health family. Congratulations to Professor Clara Chow AM, Western Sydney Local Health District and Seini Afeaki, Sydney Children's Hospitals Network on this special acknowledgement of their achievements. Winners will be announced on Thursday 7 March.
Lastly, to all those celebrating Lunar New Year (10 February) this weekend, happy the Year of the Dragon. Wishing you and your loved ones a healthy, prosperous year ahead. Kind regards,
Susan Pearce AM
Secretary, NSW Health
|
|
|
Culturally safe care helps Close the Gap |
Kylie Smith has come full circle. |
|
|
A proud Ngemba woman who grew up on Gadigal land, Kylie helped her mother and grandmother navigate the healthcare system and cared for them both palliatively.
That experience prepared her for a new role as one of Sydney Local Health District's two Aboriginal Cancer Care Coordinators.
"As hard as it was for me initially to walk the corridors and be on the wards, the same wards that my mother and grandmother were on, it's quite a healing experience for me, and I know that I'm where I'm supposed to be," said Kylie. |
| Jiv Muthunesan and Kylie Smith |
|
|
"I love my job because despite the reasons for us coming together, all of our patients have a good story to tell," she said.
Kylie and her colleague, Jiv Muthunesan, a proud Pitta Pitta man, play a key role in assisting Aboriginal patients undergoing cancer treatment. They accompany patients to appointments, help them understand medical language, and provide support throughout their cancer care journey. “When I saw this role, I just thought it was my job to help our community and be that representation and say, ‘Cancer is not always a death sentence’,” said Jiv. "We're building trust and community engagement and trying to make a difference." |
|
|
Kerriann Semms, Registered Nurse and Clinical Coordinator and Juanita Chaffey, Oncology Clinical Nurse Educator have supported many patients through their cancer treatment journey at the North West Cancer Centre. |
|
|
Kerriann Semms and Juanita Chaffey |
| “As a nurse, when you explain that you work in cancer care, often people will comment how hard and sad it must be – but it's not like that," said Juanita. "Because our patients come frequently, you get to know them. You build up a rapport, and you can make friendships with patients.
“It’s a nice environment to work in and on the tough days, knowing that Kerriann and I have each other to rely on makes a big difference," she said.
Having worked at the Tamworth centre in the Hunter New England Local Health District for several years, the duo has created a warm and compassionate environment where patients feel they are genuinely cared for. |
|
|
“It’s very special to be able to give people a bit of happiness when they’re going through not a great time in their life,” said Kerriann.
“Being able to put their mind at ease and help them through the journey is what I look forward to coming to work every day.” |
|
|
Cancer care receives high praise from patients |
|
|
People receiving cancer treatment across NSW have provided overwhelmingly positive feedback for the care they received, with 98 per cent rating their overall care as ‘very good’ or ‘good’.
More than 8,000 cancer patients from across the state provided feedback in the latest Bureau of Health Information (BHI) Outpatient Cancer Clinics Survey. Almost all patients said the health professionals were ‘always’ kind and caring towards them (96%), and said they were ‘always’ treated with respect and dignity (97%). Well done! Read the full report on BHI's website. |
|
|
Every vape is a hit to your health |
Between 2019 and 2022, vaping among 16 to 24-year-olds in NSW rose from 4.5 per cent to 16.5 per cent. But the team at Cancer Institute NSW are tackling this head on with the recent launch of the latest vaping campaign called Every vape is a hit to your health.
|
“Vapes are full of harmful chemicals, many of which have been known to cause cancer. They are highly addictive, often contain nicotine and can cause lung damage and breathing problems,” said Matt Clarke, Manager, Social Marketing and Campaigns, Screening and Prevention.
The new campaign features powerful testimonial videos. These include expert health messages, but also young people sharing their very personal, first-hand experience about the harms of vaping.
“Hearing first-hand from the young people in the campaign, including how much vaping had a hold on them and how it affected their health was really shocking,” said Matt.
“We also know that the youth segment typically engage well with messaging delivered by their peers and are heavy social media users. We will be active across many platforms including TikTok, Instagram and YouTube, and are employing a peer-to-peer approach. Ultimately, we want to drive a behavioural change, continue to educate people, and encourage them to tap into the support available.”
If you or someone you know need support and advice about quitting vaping, contact your general practitioner, download a quit vaping app, or call Quitline on 13 78 48. |
|
|
Voice recognition and transcription software for clinicians
The Digital Health Education & Training Community of Practice will be running a webinar on Saving clinician time using voice recognition software on 14 February from 12:00pm to 1:00pm.
Dr Marty Sterrett, Chief Medical Information Officer for Northern Sydney Local Health District, will share his first-hand experiences on how he uses voice recognition and transcription software to reduce the burden of clinical documentation.
Register now and share the event details with clinicians who may be interested in attending. |
| Join us for the first value based healthcare webinar of 2024 Register now to attend the first value based healthcare webinar of the year on Tuesday 13 February from 11:00am to 12:00pm. In this session, you will hear about how the Emergency Care Assessment and Treatment (ECAT) program is helping to deliver better value care, outcomes and experiences for patients in emergency departments.
Book your place now to join this event. Videos of previous sessions are available on Value@NSWHealth's SharePoint site.
|
| |
Lunar New Year is a celebration of the beginning of a new year on the lunar calendar, which will fall on Saturday 10 February this year. It is the most important holiday in China, and is also widely celebrated in South Korea, Vietnam, and other Asian countries.
2024 is the Year of the Dragon. Yu Dai from the South Eastern Sydney Local Health District shares with us what Lunar New Year means to her and how she is celebrating this year. |
|
|
Bringing hope to children with brain cancer |
|
|
Five-year-old Montana was diagnosed with paediatric low-grade glioma (pLGG) when she was just a few months old. It is the most common brain tumour in children. Thanks to the Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network, Montana has been a part of a groundbreaking clinical trial. Her once inoperable tumour has shrunk considerably. |
|
|
The Children’s Hospital at Westmead (CHW) and Sydney Children's Hospital, Randwick are among 35 centres participating in the FIREFLY-1 trial around the world. The trial tests the efficacy of oral drug, Tovorafenib, with results showing a 50 per cent tumour shrinkage in two thirds of patients.
Montana’s oncologist, Associate Professor Geoff McCowage, a Senior Oncologist at CHW, said the findings are significant and life-changing for patients like Montana, who have previously had no effective treatment options.
“Having such a high response rate with minimal toxicity, compared to what we see with standard of care therapy, is very exciting,” A/Prof McCowage said. |
|
Associate Professor Geoff McCowage and Montana |
|
|
“In over 90 per cent of participants, the tumours have stopped growing. That is an amazing outcome and a really big breakthrough.”
For Montana, she will soon begin kindergarten and has big dreams of one day becoming a doctor, hoping to follow in the footsteps of those she now calls a second family. “She’s the healthiest and happiest that we’ve seen her,” said Angie, Montana’s mum.
|
|
|
Fighting cancer by day, Gladiator by night |
|
|
| Janice Sideroudakis is a 42-year-old mum of three, working at NSW Health Pathology’s Nepean Hospital laboratory. For this year’s International Day of Women and Girls in Science (11 February), Janice shares with us why she loves working in the field of science.
“I love collaborating with fellow scientists, pathologists, radiographers, radiologists and the medical care team to ensure our patients receive the best care possible," said Janice.
As a senior scientist in charge of cytology, Janice’s day-to-day job involves examining patients’ cells under the microscope for cancer screening and diagnosis.
“I’m looking for signs as to whether a tumour is life-threatening. It ultimately dictates a patient’s treatment and care plan, and hopefully gets them well sooner,” she said. |
|
|
But over the past few weeks, she’s been focused on something very different – taking on some of the fittest people in Australia on the reality TV show Gladiators. Janice has loved the show since she was a teenager and admits she’s become a bit of a fitness fanatic.
“I exercise six days a week. I’m a highly energetic person,” she said. Her laboratory colleagues were cheering her on during the show’s grand finale, where Janice came within metres of winning. Janice is proud her team got to see another side of her. |
| Janice on reality TV show Gladiators
|
|
|
“Our pathology team here at Nepean, from the most senior to junior roles, are just an amazing bunch of people, which makes coming to work joyful and fun, despite our serious jobs.”
Read more about Janice on the NSW Health Pathology website. |
|
|
Connecting people to cancer care |
|
|
For Australian-born Lou Bacchiella, understanding and respecting his Italian heritage is something he is passionate about. And it fuels his volunteer work with cancer patients, particularly within Italian and other Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) communities. |
|
|
“A cancer diagnosis is a frightening time. People can often be frozen in the moment trying to digest what they have been told. For those where English is a second language, the process can be even more difficult,” said Lou.
As a volunteer at Cancer Institute NSW, Lou promotes awareness within CALD communities, which often have lower screening rates than the general population. “Part of the work I do involves looking through translations and taking them to various communities to ensure information is not only accurate, but understandable.
“What’s good for one group may not be the same for others. It is important to understand how different communities experience cancer and support them to navigate health services available to them,” said Lou.
Tracey O’Brien, NSW Chief Cancer Officer and Chief Executive of Cancer Institute NSW says the insights and lived experience of volunteers like Lou are key to supporting people impacted by cancer. |
| |
|
“Connecting people to cancer care is truly a team effort. We couldn’t do this without individuals like Lou who dedicate their time to support this important work,” said Tracey. |
|
|
NSW Health on TikTok
We are officially on TikTok! Follow @NSWHealth for health explainers, tips for staying well and stories from the wonderful people and places of NSW Health.
NSW Health is also on X, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instragram and YouTube.
|
| From the Critical Intelligence Unit
The Critical Intelligence Unit (CIU) Evidence Digest highlights transformative clinical innovations. Recent features include: - Outpatient appendectomy, community alternatives to ED visits, AI in health policy and medical imaging
- mRNA adjuvant therapy for melanoma, payment reforms in healthcare systems and WHO guidance on ethics and governance in AI
- Advances in type 1 diabetes, artificial pancreas
Subscribe for Wednesday morning updates or explore the CIU's living evidence table on AI in healthcare. |
|
|
We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the lands on which we live and work and pay respects to Elders past, present and emerging. We also acknowledge all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff working with the NSW Government.
|
|
|
|
