Cancer Patients Rate Patient Care

By 250 News

Eight Northern Health facilities which provide cancer care, took part in a provincially coordinated survey of patients who had received chemotherapy or radiation treatment during the period of November  2005 through May 2006.   

Surveys were mailed out, and 58.7% of the Northern Health patients  took part.

The survey shows there are some  things Northern Health is doing better than the provincial average, for instance,  on the  questions about physical comfort, Northern Health patients scored  their care givers with 80.1% while the provincial average was 76.8%, but on matters of emtional and spiritual  needs being met,  its a different story.

Only 56.3% said their spiritual needs were met.  The mark is higher than the provincial average of 55.3% but still a very low showing.  "The lower score results here are consistant with similar studies across the country" says CEO Malcolm Maxwell.  He suggests that a person  diagnosed with a terminal illness is in an emotionally draining time and spiritual needs would be higher.  The challenge is to try and find out how to deal with it. "Is it a matter of needing more time with staff, ir is it a need to conect with other cancer patients?"asks Maxwell.

Maxwell says the survey was done before Northern Health introduced its  nurse navigation and  GP Oncology programs which are designed to have dedicated  staff to  track their patients and provide better information to patients about the steps that will be taken in treatment.

Those  programs should help achieve better results the next time such a survey is conducted ""I would expect our results to rise and be much better than the provincial average" says Maxwell .  The programs  have developed a better feeling of "coordinated care".

Patients in the Quesnel area can hope to have a chemotherapy program at GR Baker hospital in the not too distant future.   Staff of that facility have developed  a plan that will be presented to the B.C. Cancer Agency soon.  With one physician already taking the G.P. Oncology training, and certified nurses already on staff, it is anticipated GR Baker's chemotherapy program will be approved in a couple of months.

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