Service Improvement - Strategic. Service Improvement - Strategic. Regional Oncology Communications and Health Promotions

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1 Service Improvement - Strategic Service Improvement - Strategic Regional Oncology Communications and Health Promotions

2 Development of Radiation Oncology Services The evaluation process for the development of radiation oncology services in the Eastern Region commenced in June The Department of Health and Children requested outline proposals for the development of radiation oncology s services. This meant that hospitals were placed into competition with each other to apply to be awarded the opportunity to provide radiation services. It was a year long process to prepare the bid and the information that would demonstrate that St. James s Hospital (SJH) was the best option for the provision of such services for the region. This involved a mammoth effort on behalf of all aspects of St. James s Hospital (SJH) and other hospitals and institutions in the Region that supported the SJH bid. These partners in care provided valuable information as well as letters of support for the provision of radiation in South Dublin. The bid process was project managed by the Regional Oncology Communications and Health Promotions Officer, with support from five regional institutions for the development of radiation oncology services in the Eastern Region. A project team was established and a core team of consultant experts in oncology worked tirelessly on the bid along with management team members from Finance and General Support Services (GSS). The Dept of Health and Children announced the national network for radiation service on July 25th They decided the following networks: Four large centres in Dublin at St. James (13 linear accelerators) and Beaumont (7) hospitals, Cork (7, up from 4) and Galway (5 up from 3); Two integrated satellite centres in Waterford (2) and Limerick (2). Arrangements to ensure the continuity of St. Luke s expertise and ethos in the service. This in effect made St. James s Hospital one of the main providers for comprehensive cancer care

3 Academic Unit of Clinical and Molecular Oncology The launch and development of the Academic Unit of Clinical and Molecular Oncology, and the School of Radiation Therapy incorporating the Telesynergy system at the Institute of Molecular Medicine, Trinity College Dublin was projected managed by the Regional Oncology Programme Office as it was such a strategic development in cancer services. This unit unifies significant elements of the college s activities in education, research and clinical practice, and emphasizes the important multidisciplinary nature of cancer care. The academic unit brings together the clinical departments of radiation oncology, medical oncology and palliative care together with the University s school of Radiation Therapy and the cancer research laboratory within the Institute of Molecular Medicine. The unit is the first of its type in the country. Speaking about the unit, Professor Donal Hollywood, Marie Curie Professor of Clinical Oncology and Head of the Academic Unit said, The creation of the Academic Unit will provide the critical mass of cancer specialists and the administrative infrastructure to ensure that patients will derive the maximum benefit from research and clinical departments on the same campus. Establishing the Telesynergy system will also create a unique link between the Academic Unit, the NCI in Washington, the European Organisation for the Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC), St Luke s Hospital and Belfast City Hospital. An immediate goal is to facilitate enhanced collaboration between the centres and to accelerate the opportunities for research and development. It will allow the real time discussion of complex clinical cases and important research questions between experts in the US, Northern Ireland and the Republic. The new network will have a significant impact on immediate and future clinical practice.

4 The American Cancer Society Visit Representatives from the American Cancer Society (ACS) visited Ireland to affirm their support for the All Ireland Cancer Consortium. During the four days, leaders of the ACS met with government officials and prominent members of the health care communities in Dublin and Belfast to identify new opportunities to expand upon the groundbreaking cancer control partnership that forged the All Ireland Cancer Consortium. The Regional Oncology Programme Office was requested to assist in this visit to the acute hospital. The delegation visited St. James s Hospital to view the Academic Unit of Clinical and Molecular Oncology and the recently installed Telesynergy system at the Institute of Molecular Medicine, Trinity College Dublin. A demonstration took place of a live link up between the Telesynergy system in Dublin and a similar system in the National Cancer Institute in Washington. Professor Donal Hollywood, Head of the Academic Unit, said that the recent establishment of the state of the art Telesynergy system creates a unique link between the Trinity Academic Unit, the National Cancer Institute in Washington and other major US Academic Comprehensive Cancer Centres. In addition Telesynergy links with important European Cancer Research institutions including the European Organisation for the Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) in Brussels, together with St. Luke s Hospital and Belfast City Hospital. This partnership between the US and Europe has rapidly enabled scientists and clinicians in both continents to interact simultaneously with one another and carry out real time discussion of complex clinical cases and important collaborative research Finding cancer in the earliest stage possible gives the patient the greatest chance of survival. said Professor Hollywood, For this reason our collective aim is to continually striving to provide the public and health care professionals with the latest cancer resources to help them make informed decisions. For more information anytime, visit

5 Guidelines The Regional Oncology Programme Office published 13 site specific General Practitioner (GP) Referral Guidelines for Suspected Cancer. These guidelines took account of evidence-based research and the findings of the national cancer forum. The National Cancer Strategy 2006 stated that General Practitioners should have comprehensive information that enables informed referral and other management decisions. GPs have a particularly important role to play in the control of cancer. Many patients will consult a GP to explore systems and it is at this level that the diagnosis of cancer will often be initially suspected. The decision the GP makes in terms of referral direction and timing cancer have an important bearing on the process and outcome of care that a patient may experience. The development of these GP Referral Guidelines, aimed to address some issues identified. It was hoped that the guidelines would act as a map to the process of cancer care delivery, and would provide a source of information for primary care professionals. The aim of the guidelines was to provide a clear map of the cancer services that were available and how to access them. The Regional Oncology Programme Office suggested the guidelines be produced nationally and updated every two years. Recently the guidelines project was taken from the Regional Office and moved to the National Cancer Control Programme (NCCP) so that all guidelines could be further developed and rolled out nationally from there.

6 Regional Strategy Report The Regional Oncology Programme Office has been submitting business and funding proposals on an annual basis for the last 10 years, however in 2001, a regional cancer strategy document was drafted to review the current status of cancer services within the South West Region of Dublin and to measure them against the provider plan/needs for cancer care in the Region. This document provided a brief overview, focusing on the service provided on a regional level rather than within each institution. The mission was to provide comprehensive cancer services to patients and their families from highly skilled multidisciplinary teams, within a reasonable commute from their homes. This document attempted to provide agreed regional priorities so those involved in cancer on a regional level would work in unison with institutions to provide the best service possible. Six of the seven institutions supported the strategy, and it was seen as a vital step towards streamlining cancer services among those institutions involved in cancer care.

7 First Draft Marketing Plan - National Cancer Control Programme The development of a marketing and communications community strategy for the National Cancer Control Programme (NCCP) was essential if there is to be effective progress and management of change of the national programme. This draft was submitted by the Regional Office to the National Director of the NCCP for consideration and review. It highlighted the need to focus on the user not the provider, that engagement was essential with patients and their families, potential patients and their families, as well as medical professionals in the service to secure buy-in to the programme. It suggested utilizing existing networks in the country to reach the community. It highlighted the important role of the General Practitioner (GP) to the user stating that their needs must be properly resourced. It offered suggestions in how to improve communication. To communicate the facts that keep getting lost in translation and to communicate short term wins. It further suggested ways to manage controls to ensure we can measure our client s perceptions and experience of the service. The development of a marketing and communication strategy was deemed important to ensure effective progress and management of change of the service. Marketing Communications is the key to promoting health and preventing disease and requires a strong framework

8 First draft Communications and Stakeholder Engagement Plan for Community Oncology Communication is the key to promoting innovative health reforms particularly controversial reforms, communications is the tool, which allows you to set expectations as well as manage concerns and fears in a pro-active manner. The National Cancer control Programme is about to embark on a new way of service provision and management, which will lead to a better service for the cancer patient and their families. What we need to do is to look at the facts of the situation and turn the facts into warm human emotion and gain buy-in from our key partners in the provision of a better services for those we serve. Effective Communication and ongoing consultation has now become a statutory obligation (EU Information and consultation Directive) as more emphasis is placed on achieving and demonstrating value for public funds. This requires new approaches to communications with staff as well as with patients receiving our service. This report was created for the Community Oncology Section of the NCCP and the first draft was given to the national advisor of community oncology as well as the National Director of the NCCP. It endeavoured to provide a series of ideas in how to present a unified support approach to reforms, to create programmes where integration was possible and programmes that could clearly demonstrate success using a more quality assured service where evidence based medicine was the driving force for care of the cancer patient.

9 Regional Communications Strategy plan The creation of a strategic plan, for the development and improvement of current cancer services was deemed vital if we were to provide a high-quality patient focused service. This report was drafted for the region of Dublin Mid-Leinster and given to the Regional Director of Cancer Services for review. The National Cancer Strategy identified that planning and delivery of services should be reshaped so that prevention, treatments and care are focused on improvements in health status and quality of life. It also placed increased emphasis on providing the most appropriate forms of care i.e. evidence based medicine. Communication offers a two-way dialogue that gives all stakeholders a sense of ownership and participation in the reformatory process. Once the channels of communication are open they allow you to set expectations, manage concerns proactively as well as widening the net of expertise/opinion that informs and supports the development of the service. Effective communication in a large region is complex but essential in order to help in the development of the service, improve working relationships and ensuring that all partners in care are working together for a common goal. A small sample of nurses, consultants, social workers and administrative staff involved in cancer services responded to a questionnaire. Those involved wanted to be part of a programme and wanted to feel included. As a result this report proposed a few strategies to assist in improving communication needs such as the creation of a communications forum, partnership development, health promotion engagement with our communities, cascade systems among institutions and joint events for the region