100 women get life-saving test during BC Cancer Agency’s pilot Pap Week

The BC Cancer Agency reached its goal of bringing at least 100 women into participating clinics during its pilot Pap Week for cervical cancer screening in May 2008.

“We recognize that factors such as limited availability of family doctors and challenges scheduling medical appointments around work and other commitments likely influence a woman’s decision to get regular Pap tests,” says Dr. Dirk van Niekerk, Medical Leader for the BC Cancer Agency’s Cervical Cancer Screening Program (CCSP). “We initiated Pap Week to improve awareness and access to screening, and we’re so pleased with the results.”

More than 100 women had a Pap test at 12 clinics in the Lower Mainland as part of the BC Cancer Agency’s first Pap Week from May 5 to 12, 2008. Of these women, 72 percent had never had a Pap test in B.C. or were overdue to get screened.

Women were able to walk into a participating clinic without an appointment on designated days during the week to get a Pap test.

For a full copy of the press release, please visit: http://www.bccancer.bc.ca/ABCCA/NewsCentre/2008/papweekresults.htm 

Advancing Strategic Direction #3
Support regional centres, regions and communities with the implementation of provincial cancer control programs and the integration of knowledge.

National lung cancer study seeks 2,500 participants

In September, the Terry Fox Research Institute (TFRI) and the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer announced the launch of a nationwide lung cancer detection study, involving 2,500 current and former smokers in seven Canadian cities (Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Hamilton, Ottawa, Quebec City and Halifax).

Researchers will ask participants to complete a questionnaire and take blood and breath samples to determine the effectiveness of these readily accessible and low cost detection techniques for lung cancer. This is a first step in early detection, and streaming those identified as being at higher risk to the costlier but more sensitive spiral CT and bronchoscopy.

The study’s lead researchers are Drs. Stephen Lam, chair of the lung cancer tumour group at BC Cancer Agency and Dr. Ming Tsao with the Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto.

The study incorporates data such as a family history of lung cancer, the presence or absence of chronic obstructive lung disease and body height and weight, in addition to smoking history and age, to determine lung cancer risk.

TFRI Scientific Director Dr. Victor Ling says “By using low-cost techniques to identify individuals who are at risk and recommending them for more in-depth examination, we have the potential to significantly increase both the effectiveness and the reach of lung cancer detection.”

Current and former smokers between the age of 50 and 75 who are interested in participating are urged to call the toll-free study registration line at 1.888.501.TFRI (8374).

For a full copy of the press release, please visit: http://www.partnershipagainstcancer.ca/inside.php?lang=EN&ID=136 

BC Cancer Agency on the road to accreditation

By now most BC Cancer Agency teams have completed their survey questionnaires and received their “quality performance roadmap,” which identifies areas for improvement.

“The Quality Performance Roadmap provides us with direction on areas that require follow up and allows us to create action plans to bridge any gaps so that we can achieve accreditation standards,” says Fiona Bees, director of the Agency’s Quality Council.

“Rather than manually documenting practice and submitting reports, and then waiting for the survey site visit as we did previously, we have an online Roadmap that we can follow and as we make changes, we can enter those electronically and map our progress.”

In the next few weeks, team leaders will be meeting with their groups to review the collective results and develop actions to address the “priority” red and yellow flagged items. Each flagged item has a priority rating of high, medium or low risk to help teams prioritize the development of action plans.

Once action plans are developed, each team is responsible for carrying out the tasks according to the stated timelines and areas of responsibility. Evidence that flagged items are being addressed is submitted to Accreditation Canada on a regular basis through periodic self-assessment surveys and through the submission of data. On-site surveyors will verify evidence of actions taken when they visit the Agency in June 2009.

If you any questions about Accreditation, please contact Judy Wang, Quality, Safety and Risk Management office, 4th Floor, Vancouver Centre, at 604-877-6124 or via e-mail at jwang@phsa.ca

Advancing Strategic Direction #1
Sustain and advance the BC Cancer Agency's system of cancer control.

imPROVING Surgical OR

By now, many staff are familiar with ImPROVE, introduced in September 2007 to improve patient safety and outcomes and to empower staff to redesign their work environments so they are more effective and efficient.

Recently, the Fraser Valley Centre’s Ambulatory Care Centre, Diagnostic Imaging and Hereditary Cancer Program (see April 2008 issue of the Link) all took part in imPROVE initiatives. ImPROVE is based on the principles of Lean Thinking. A growing number of health care organizations throughout North America are turning to the principles of “lean thinking," which include fostering a culture of innovation and sustainability throughout an organization, with staff leading change in the areas being “redesigned”.

Now the Vancouver Centre’s Surgical OR is applying ImPROVE to review its processes to ensure Surgical OR continues to deliver excellent care and clinical outcomes for patients. It is the most ambitious and long-term imPROVE project launched at the Agency to date.

The Surgical OR imPROVE intiative will largely be driven by OR staff and will look at the entire patient process, from when the patient is first booked for surgery to when they leave the care of the Agency. OR staff has identified reducing OR turnaround time, the wait time from seeing a surgeon to surgery, and the OR scheduling process as key processes for review, but additional processes may be identified and added throughout the coming months.

“The Surgical OR imPROVE initiative will involve as many front-line staff as possible to help identify and implement efficiencies,” says John French, Surgical Oncology Leader, “They know better than anyone else what will work and what won’t. After each process review, we’ll be implementing changes right away, so staff will be able to see small, incremental changes immediately, which will lead to greater, long-term sustainable change as we progress with imPROVE throughout the year.”

“Our goal as a team is to build a state-of-the-art surgical program, which meets or exceeds established healthcare benchmarks.”

Advancing Strategic Direction #1
Sustain and advance the BC Cancer Agency's system of cancer control.

Annual Cancer Conference examines survivorship issues

Each year, the BC Cancer Agency’s annual cancer conference draws more than 1,000 health care professionals to network and share in shaping the direction of cancer control in B.C.

With this year’s conference theme, Survivorship: Creating it, Managing it, we will be looking at the spectrum of issues and challenges of cancer care, from the creation of survivors through scientific and clinical research as well as cancer treatments, through to the issues of living after cancer; how well-being and health is impacted by surviving the cancer experience; and how we can work to minimize and mitigate current and future problems to ensure survivorship means 'living well' after cancer, both to patients and their loved ones.

“This year more than any other, we have a very unifying theme that touches the work of all cancer disciplines,” says Dr. Ursula Lee, conference co-chair. “This is true whether we work in basic science research looking for cancer cures, provide direct patient care and treatment, or help patients cope with issues after undergoing treatment.”

The plenary session on November 21, State of the Art in Survivorship Care and Research, brings together experts from the BC Cancer Agency and across Canada. The session will examine genetic counselling and testing, and review behavioral and psychological issues, follow-up care, survivorship care plans, second malignancies, medicolegal and ethical issues, cancer prevention, and survivorship research.

Another highlight at the conference is the keynote speaker, who herself is a cancer survivor. Dr. Marla Shapiro, specialist in community medicine, television host, and author of the best-selling book, Life in the Balance: My Journey with Breast Cancer, will take the stage prior to the plenary session for her presentation, Thrivorship: Cancer and Beyond.

“We have a very exciting and dynamic agenda this year,” adds Ursula. “We encourage everyone to take advantage of this professional development and networking event.”

There’s still time to register for the conference, taking place from November 20 to 22 at the Westin Bayshore in Vancouver. For detailed agendas, schedules and registration information, please visit: http://www.bccancer.bc.ca/HPI/ACC2008/default.htm  

Advancing Strategic Direction #1
Sustain and advance the BC Cancer Agency's system of cancer control.

Greg Hislop: continuing to make an impact

An old filing cabinet housing 1,100 surveys from nursing students in the 1940s on benign breast disease at the BC Cancer Agency’s Vancouver Centre (then the Maxwell Evans Clinic) was Dr. Greg Hislop’s “real life” introduction to epidemiology. In 1979, fresh out of medical school from McGill University with a master’s degree in epidemiology and biostatistics, Greg took on a three-month assignment under the direction of then department head Dr. Mark Elwood to determine if women with benign disease were at greater risk of breast cancer. That study led to a 30-year career tracking disease, and implementing evidence-based cancer prevention programs.

Since 1979, Greg’s research focus has evolved, but it has always been relevant to the times. In 1988, Greg was part of a group which developed a pilot screening program for the first province-wide screening mammography program in Canada. In the early 1990s, he became a lead researcher on a groundbreaking national study on the role of diet in breast cancer prevention. At about the same time, he developed an interest in health care disparities among the First Nations and immigrant populations, immersing himself in those communities and their educational needs. Many of his pilot prevention programs were successful because of his inclusion of communities in finding solutions.

More recently, his research has looked at roadblocks to healthcare access among downtown eastside residents, and incarcerated women.

“Greg has worked tirelessly to translate knowledge in cancer control into prevention programs for aboriginal groups and underserved ethnic groups in B.C. and even traveled to India to initiate cancer control programs there,” says Richard Gallagher, head of the Cancer Control Program, and a colleague and friend of Greg’s for 30 years.

In addition to a lengthy list of academic and professional accomplishments, Greg will be remembered for his generosity and kindness to his colleagues and graduate students. “He remains a truly good man,” says Richard. “He always believes the best of everyone, and that belief, that optimism, truly encourages us to be better people, too.”

True to his values, Greg will spend a large part of his retirement raising awareness about the plight of underprivileged children in India, and building schools for them through the Dalit Freedom Network. “These are the poorest of the poor, whose futures are bleak. Education can become a catalyst of change, and help improve the quality of their lives and those of their families,” says Greg.

Success depends on all of us! United Way Campaign theme

For more than 75 years, United Way has been helping improve the lives of people living in B.C. Our campaign is a fun way for you to help improve the quality of life for thousands of men, women, and children throughout British Columbia. United Way’s vision is a healthy, caring, inclusive community, which is possible with your help.

Last year BC Cancer Agency staff from throughout the province raised almost $120,000. We hope you’ll again show your support for the BC Cancer Agency, for United Way, and for the hundreds of community-based organizations throughout our province that will benefit from our campaign.

Complete your form and drop it off at any of the drop-boxes located at or near the main reception in your building. You can increase your chances of winning a great prize by getting your form in early!

If you have any questions about the campaign, please contact any of this year’s Campaign Committee:

BC Cancer Foundation
Levent Batur, Vancouver Island (5551); lbatur@bccancer.bc.ca  
Rachel Mitchell, Fraser Valley (4084); rmitchell@bccancer.bc.ca
Karen Irmie, Southern Interior (3921); kirmie@bccancer.bc.ca  
Liz Harris, Abbotsford (644736); lizharris3@bccancer.bc.ca  
Amber Dyce, Vancouver (5920) (including BCCRC and GSC); adyce@bccancer.bc.ca  

Provincial Co-ordinator
Amber Dyce, BC Cancer Foundation (5920)

Dates for the provincial campaign:
Southern Interior – campaign wrapped up Oct 3rd
Vancouver Island – Oct 20th – Oct 24th
Fraser Valley – Oct 20th – Oct 31st
Abbotsford – Oct 20th – Oct 24th
Vancouver – Oct 20th – Oct 31st

Radiation therapy booklet revised

The popular Radiation Therapy, What to Expect booklet has undergone its third printing. The booklet is given to radiation therapy patients receiving treatment at all five BC Cancer Agency regional centres to help answer some of the common questions patients may have, and to allay some of the fears of receiving therapy. It includes a glossary as well as additional resources patients can access.

Hard copies of the booklet are available at all regional cancer centres Ambulatory Care areas or from provincial radiation therapy educators.

You can view the booklet on-line electronically http://www.bccancer.bc.ca/PPI/CancerTreatment/RadiationTherapy/default.htm         

Safer patient care goal of the BC Patient Safety & Learning System

Did you know that adverse events in hospitals affect 185,000 Canadians each year? Nearly half of these events are preventable - but to prevent them, we need to know more about them.

"There is clear evidence that the risk of error in health care is too great, and ensuring patient safety is of the utmost importance,” says John French, BC Patient Safety & Learning System (BCPSLS) advisory committee participant. “Being able to identify, record and investigate adverse impacts will help us to reduce the risk for the people that matter most - our patients"

The BC Cancer Agency will be the first organization of its kind, and the next PHSA agency, to rollout BC PSLS. It is an easy to use web-based tool that will capture safety events (unusual occurrences, near misses, hazards and critical incidents), which will build on work already done at the BC Cancer Agency to improve patient safety.

“BC PSLS supports our goal of having an organizational culture focused on safety and the prevention of errors," says Fiona Bees, Chair of the PSLS Advisory Committee at the Agency. “Our focus is on process improvement and the effective collection, analysis and application of data through BC PSLS allows.This system will give us the data thereby, increasing our knowledge about our safety issues. This then allows us to learn from mistakes and drive quality and operational improvement initiatives to prevent future occurrences.”

Training and rollout is expected to start in the Vancouver centre in late November with Victoria, Kelowna, Fraser Valley and Abbotsford to follow shortly.

Contact your centre lead for details and look forward to more information and giveaways coming your way!

Vancouver centre: Aryln Heywood (aheywood@bccancer.bc.ca) and Amin Maherali (amaheral@bccancer.bc.ca)
Victoria: Kelly Nystedt (knystedt@bccancer.bc.ca)
Kelowna: Michael Johnston (mjohnsto@bccancer.bc.ca)
Fraser Valley and Abbotsford: to be announced

Oral Oncology/Dentistry receives funding for prosthodontic services

With an infusion of $158,000 ($58,000 from the B.C. Dental Association Tooth Fair Gala, held in March 2008 and $100,000 from the Ministry of Health), the B.C. Cancer Agency's Program in Oral Oncology/Dentistry is now able to provide more treatment for patients requiring comprehensive dental rehabilitation.

"The proceeds from the Gala and the contribution from government will make a huge difference in the lives of our head and neck cancer patients", says Dr. Allan Hovan, Provincial Practice Leader of the BCCA's Program in Oral Oncology/Dentistry. "These patients are suffering physically and psychologically. Many aren't able to eat or speak properly - and often feel socially isolated as a result. These funds will enable patients to receive this care in a more timely manner."

Approximately 500 British Columbians are diagnosed each year with head and neck cancer. A small number of these patients (15 to 20 annually) require the removal of both teeth and parts of the jaw bone to effectively treat the disease. These patients subsequently require complex oral rehabilitation in order to restore their ability to chew. This treatment involves implant-supported prostheses, not currently covered under MSP.

At the Vancouver Centre, the prosthodontic services are provided by Dr. John Carpendale and Dr. Brian Yu. Both joined the Oral Oncology department in the past year. Dr. Carpendale is a graduate of the Univeristy of Indiana and has had a specialty practice in prosthodontics in Vancouver for a number of years. He is currently the President of the B.C. Society of Prosthodontics. Dr. Yu is a recent graduate of Boston University and currently maintains a private practice in prosthodontics in Vancouver.

BC Cancer Foundation donors brighten waiting area for youngest cancer patients

“It was really important to the entire radiation therapy team to do something to ease the stress and discomfort of our youngest cancer patients,” says Mike Darud, BC Cancer Agency Planning Resource Therapist, Radiation Therapy, referring to the recent renovations in the children’s waiting area at the Vancouver Centre.

“Children visiting the Vancouver Centre for radiation therapy can require treatment 25 or more days in a row,” says John French, Director of the Centre’s Clinical Operations, Radiation Therapy. “And sometimes parents have to bring their other children along to wait while their brother or sister receives treatment. This is why we wanted to make the waiting area as comfortable as possible for the whole family.”

The new waiting area includes an original, brightly painted mural covering two walls, comfortable furniture, a TV and DVD player and movies, toys, books, games and an activity wall. The project also includes ongoing funding for a children’s toy chest – every child visiting the BC Cancer Agency for radiation therapy will receive a small toy after each treatment and a special teddy bear when their treatment is finished.

The facelift was made possible in part thanks to a $15,000 donation to the BC Cancer Foundation from the Loyal Protestant Association and a $30,000 gift to the Foundation from Ronald McDonald House Charities of Canada.

“It’s so rewarding that the BC Cancer Foundation can fund these types of enhancements to patient care,” says Sharon Kennedy, the Foundation’s Senior Director of Development, Lower Mainland. “We’re so thankful to be a part of these projects that make such a visible and tangible difference in the lives of cancer patients and their families.”

Contact the BC Cancer Foundation
Provincial Office:
604-877-6040
infobccf@bccancer.bc.ca  

Abbotsford:
Liz Harris
604-851-4736
lharris3@bccancer.bc.ca  

Fraser Valley:
Kate Ludlam
604-707-5900 ext. 4960
kludlam@bccancer.bc.ca  

Southern Interior:
Cynthia Waldek-Peters
250-712-3910
cwaldekpeters@bccancer.bc.ca  

Vancouver Island:
Laura Walsh
250-519-5554
lwalsh@bccancer.bc.ca  

Vancouver:
Sharon Kennedy
604-877-6040
skennedy@bccancer.bc.ca  

Newsmakers

Pablo Santi-Banez, Vincent Chow, John French, and Dr. Scott Tyldesley, (from the VC Radiation Oncology Program) – along with UBC colleagues – were recipients of a best poster award at the Mayo Clinic Conference held in September. Their study Improving Patient Flow and Resource Utilization in an Ambulatory Clinic through Simulation Modelling, looked at ways to improve the patient experience and optimize the use of physical and human resources. Their team - Operations Research for Improved Cancer Care - is funded through the Canadian Institutes for Health Research. For more information, please visit: www.orincancercare.org/cihrteam/index.html

BC Cancer Agency staff were well-represented at the recent Canadian Association of Radiation Oncologists’ meeting in Montreal:

• Dr. Peggy Olive was the 2008 CARO/Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons opening lecturer
• About 1/3 of the oral submissions chosen by the program committee were from the BC Cancer Agency
• Dr. Abraham Alexander (VIC) was the award recipient of the best abstract in clinical/population oncology
• Three of the “people’s choice”, i.e. best/most interesting, platform presentations were given by Drs. Abraham Alexander, Jim Morris (VC) and Amin Mydin (VIC)
• Dr. Andrew Minchinton (Medical Biophysics) was one of three invited speakers in the plenary/theme symposium (the others were from Toronto)
• Resident David Palma received the Jean Roy prize for accomplishment and resident Jennifer Goulart the best presentation award.

A special thank-you to Susan Broadbear for her efforts in organizing staff for the event.

Do you know of a Newsmaker? Drop us a line at prehncy@bccancer.bc.ca