Cancer Team’s Award

A project that helps cancer patients prepare for their surgery has won a national award.

The team from Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust won the HSJ Patient Safety Pilot Project of the Year award for carrying out enhanced medical assessments with elderly patients who need surgery for colorectal cancer.

The project involves thorough checking of patients’ physical functions, nutrition, mental health, memory tests, and doing a range of screening and IV therapies for medical issues before and after surgery.

The expert team includes the Anaesthetics, Elderly Medicine, and Colorectal Surgery departments at Southend Hospital, who have helped over 150 patients with their surgeries.

Their efforts have meant that they can help older and more frail patients, who would otherwise be denied surgery, prepare for their procedure and receive the care they need.

Dr James Jegard, a Consultant Geriatrician at the Trust, said: “We were absolutely delighted to win the HSJ award for developing this clinic, which is providing better access and better outcomes for curative cancer surgery for our population.

“We are really proud of this recognition and hope that we can use this as a platform to expand the service to help more elderly patients to access safe surgery.”

The award-winning team have also been successful in reducing the number of medicines taken by these patients and helped cut down the number of referrals to other departments, leading to a more comfortable experience.

Led by Dr James Jegard, Dr Eleanor Stock, Dr Myuran Kaneshamoorthy, Dr Christine Thomas, Miss Rebecca Himpson, and supported by Dr Aneta Oborska and Dr Peter Mahr, the project soon plans to start treating urology cancer patients, meaning they can help improve the care and life of even more people.

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