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GICS understands the needs of Grampians people affected by cancer, we listen to what
people tell us and we work with health services and providers to improve cancer care
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Welcome to the June Newsletter
Welcome to our June newsletter – and the midpoint of the year! The GICS team (and healthcare professionals from our region) came away from the VICS conference full of ideas that we hope to share with you over the coming months. Held on the 9th and 10th May, the Grampians was well represented in the conference program. Grampians clinicians were involved in work presented in 29% (15/52 oral presentations) and produced 6 poster presentations. Additionally, Penny Johnston, GICS Consumer Advisory Group Member, together with GICS staff member Glenn Reeves, won best oral presentation at the conference.
Co-designing with Consumers
A theme of the VICS conference was co-design with consumers. Check out the following websites, which demonstrate what can happen when you work in partnership with consumers. The first example is a digital patient app – which was developed by an IT developer with a Melanoma diagnosis. The app collects data from people living with melanoma, including demographic and epidemiological data – across all stages of disease, treatment and beyond. Users of the app can see and analyse the anonymised aggregated data in real time. Participants benefit from monitoring and recording how they feel, and the platform provides a convenient way for them to share their data with friends, family and healthcare professionals.
Melanoma uk digital registry
The second example is the development of a website for people with pancreatic cancer, by people living with pancreatic cancer. Pancare
On a more local note, David and I attended the opening of the new Wimmera Cancer Centre in Horsham on Wednesday 12th June. It was great to see the extent of community ownership for the new centre which portrays a sense of warmth and welcome for visitors and patients alike. The opening commenced with a smoking ceremony conducted by local Elders (luckily the rain stayed away).
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WeCan is an Australian supportive care website to help people affected by cancer find the information, resources and support services they may need following a diagnosis of cancer. The site provides easy access to the many excellent resources, services and information developed by other organisations who specialise in cancer and community support. Grampians clinicians have been actively involved in shaping the content and format of the resources that have been developed as part of WeCan. Only recently launched, GICS will be promoting the resources over the coming months
Click here to visit the website
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Quality of Life
Beyond Five in conjunction with Western & Central Melbourne Integrated Cancer Service (WCMICS) are pleased to announce an event for people affected by Head and Neck cancer. This is a patient-centred Head & Neck cancer educational and networking event; the first of a series developed and organised by WCMICS and its partner hospitals. This is an interactive opportunity for patients, carers, and family members to meet, hear and share each other’s stories and experiences. Join us for a facilitated Question and Answer session with key health professionals followed by time to talk and share your experience with others.
For more information or to register click here
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Victorian Patient Experience Survey
The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) funded GICS to support the local implementation of the Victorian Cancer Patient Experience Survey Toolkit.
The Victorian Patients’ Experience of Cancer Care survey (VPECCS) is a questionnaire designed to collect information about the care experiences of patients treated for cancer in Victorian hospitals. The survey aims to understand patients’ experiences regarding their interactions with health care providers and provision of information and supportive care services throughout their cancer journey: from diagnosis and treatment through to follow-up. The information collected through the survey can be utilised by hospitals and health services in their quality improvement initiatives and provides a platform for benchmarking care experiences at a state and/or at a treatment centre level.
GICS managed the Patient Experience Survey on behalf of 6 service providers in the Grampians Region who volunteered to participate. A pleasing 65% response rate was received overall. Participating health services received their own report, and a Grampians wide report has also been prepared by the GICS team. To access the report, please click here
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Producing quality health information: Hot off the Press!
Sharon Daly of GICS has sourced information on various tumour streams from the Victorian Population Health Survey 2016 and Victorian Admitted Episodes Dataset (VAED), 2019.
Over the coming months we will provide a snapshot of cancers in our region.
Please remember if you need any cancer related information don't hesitate to contact us as we have access to a wide range of cancer data.
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Cancer Survivor Guide Podcasts
Hosted by ABC broadcaster, Penny Johnston, the GICS Consumer Advisory Group have created a series of 5 podcasts to help newly diagnosed patients. The podcasts have interviews with local medical specialists and take you gently through what might be involved in the common treatment paths. We hope the podcasts will be a helpful addition to the information patients receive from their treatment team. The final podcast in the series discusses Aboriginal Health and you will meet Emma Leehane, Aboriginal Care Coordinator at Ballarat Health Services, and Anthony Harrison and Sandy Anderson, both practice nurses at Ballarat & District Aboriginal Co-operative (BADAC)
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Cancer Council Victoria (CCV)
The Grampians region welcomes 11 new Cancer Wellness Program facilitators. The Cancer Wellness Program is an 8 week cancer education and exercise program that was recently developed in the region. The program runs at Wimmera Health Care Group, Stawell Regional Health and Rural Northwest Health. The use of telehealth during the education component enables participating sites to link into the session. With a focus to further roll out of the program West Wimmera Health Service and East Grampians Health Service staff joined in to increase facilitator numbers in the region.
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QOOL-VIC is now live for MDM submissions
If you have any queries please contact:
Nicole Ward or Steph Verhey
P 5320 6772 | E mdmadmin@bhs.org.au
Click here to access QOOL to submit your patients.
How to Register & Submission Guide available - Please contact Nicole or Steph
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Grampians Region Planning Workshop
On Friday May 17th, GICS ran a Grampians Regional Planning workshop at Pyrenees House in Ararat. Approximately 35 attendees with either a health service or consumer background took part in robust discussions led by Claire Edwards, driving conversation re the future state of cancer services in the Grampians Region. Further information will be available in the following weeks.
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GICS sharing your news
If you have any forthcoming events or information you would like to share please forward to Jen Quilliam at GICS.
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