The medical director of the Nova Scotia Cancer Care program says a decision not to proceed with radiation cancer treatment at the Yarmouth Regional Hospital involved a year and a half of exhaustive work.
Dr. Drew Bethune says lots of evidence and input went into the decision along with a six hour deliberative engagement session which involved health care professionals, local cancer patients and other local stakeholders.
He tells Acadia News the steering committee included three public advisors.
“One of which represented the three advocacy groups, the Yarmouth Hospital Foundation, the town council and Derek Lesser’s Facebook group.”
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Dr. Bethune says cancer patients in the region were consulted, including 900 who participated in a survey.
He says they made sure the process to reach a decision was completely transparent and ethical.
” We brought in a medical ethicist. I gave away my authority to make a decision to the group and its wisdom. All those people around the table, for six hours. It really was a remarkable experience They really thought hard about things and debated and discussed
He says while a radiation unit won’t be coming to Yarmouth, other enhancements are being pursued.
Some of the enhancements include reducing the number of patient trips to Halifax by better coordinating appointments, financial assistance for travel and better use of telemedicine to reduce long trips for short appointments as well as using new technology that will also help reduce trips to Halifax.
“Also the psychological support which we have found in our reviews of cancer patients is a considerable problem that has not been well recognized.”
Dr. Bethune says the transportation and accommodation issue is more complicated than he had thought.
Patients from Yarmouth travel farther. The only other place say travel long distances is Guysborough.
“Because of this unique aspect I thought we would be able to make special arrangements. It’s more complicated than that. But, the government has a ministerial committee working on that in a number areas. We will be connecting with that group to see if we can leverage resources. We’ll be striking a joint committee between the NSHA and the Department of Health to tackle these problems.
He said it’s been a very positive experience working with the people of Yarmouth and I believe that we have established a positive, trusting relationship. We will be reaching out to people from Yarmouth to help us work on these solutions. I feel a great sense of responsibility to deliver results from this deliberation as fast as possible so people can see tangible evidence that I’m serious on delivering on the promises that we’ve made.”
(Acadia News photo)
