Outpatient cancer care report shows positive experiences of care for Northern NSW patients

Patients in Northern NSW undergoing cancer treatment have expressed overwhelmingly positive sentiments regarding the care they’ve received, according to the most recent independent survey. Data from the Bureau of Health Information’s Outpatient Cancer Clinics Survey 2023, published today, reveals that 98 percent of patients within the Northern NSW Local Health District (NNSWLHD) rated their overall care as ‘very good’ or ‘good.’

Every patient, a full 100 percent, provided ‘very good’ or ‘good’ ratings for the health professionals responsible for their care. Additionally, 97 percent of patients agreed that the reception staff were polite and courteous, and expressed that the health professionals were kind and caring.

Tracey Maisey, the Chief Executive of NNSWLHD,

emphasized that this report underscores the signifcance of compassion and empathy alongside clinical expertise in delivering care that truly addresses patients’ needs. She noted, “Receiving treatment for cancer is a stressful experience for both patients and their loved ones, and it’s so important to deliver care that meets both the physical and emotional needs of our patients.”

The exceptionally high satisfaction levels extend to patients in Lismore, where 100 percent reported their care as ‘very good’ or ‘good.’ In the broader survey, the clinic achieved 11 results that signifcantly exceeded the NSW average, with 96 percent of patients stating they would speak highly of their care to family and friends.

At Grafton Base Hospital, all patients

Lismore Library Manager Lucy Kinsley has won the Woman of Distinction Award - Regional/Rural category in the 2023 Ministers’ Awards for Women in Local Government. The awards were established in 2008 to recognise the outstanding efforts of women at the grassroots level of government in metropolitan and regional/rural councils.

There are countless women across the state playing a vital role in creating stronger local councils and making their local community a better place to live, work and play - and Lucy Kinsley is defnitely one of them.

Ms Kinsley said she was humbled by the award, adding that local government gave her life purpose.

“I love my work and my community, and I am so honoured to be nominated,” she said. “Local government provides so many employment opportunities to work and develop skills in new areas, which gave me the opportunity to do such a range of exciting pro-grams, meet great people and be involved in my community.

“However, it was a team effort, not an individual one.” award.

(100 percent) rated their overall care as ‘very good’ or ‘good.’ Furthermore, 97 percent confrmed that they were ‘always’ treated with respect and dignity, and commended the polite and courteous reception staff.

The positive trend continues at The Tweed Hospital, where nearly all patients (97 percent) assessed their overall care as ‘very good’ or ‘good.’ A signifcant 98 percent attested to the excellence of the health professionals treating them.

Maisey also highlighted that when the new Tweed Valley Hospital opens next year, it will introduce a state-of-theart integrated cancer care service, including a new radiotherapy service. This development will enable patients to receive a more extensive portion of their treatment closer to their homes, further enhancing their overall care experience.

“Lucy is a very deserving winner of this prestigious award which recognises her continued dedicated service to the communities of Lismore, Ballina, Byron and Tweed across the library network, the support, mentorship and guidance Lucy has provided to her work colleagues, and to the four local governments which form the Richmond Tweed Regional Library area,” he said.

“Lucy has ensured that the library service has remained relevant to its many users and adapted to changing times and led the team through natural disasters.”

Chair of the Richmond Tweed Regional Library Committee, Lismore City Councillor Darlene Cook said if you are a book lover, then you probably know and love Lucy.

“It’s hard to overstate the great work Lucy has done at the library and the high esteem she is held by library users,” she said.

Ms Kinsley, who is soon to retire, has dedicated 45 years of her career to public librar-ies, starting as a library assistant in Casino Public Library in 1971 before joining Lismore Library in 1974.

Under her steady guidance, the Lismore, Goonellabah and the Mobile Library now offer a large range of services to meet the needs of all community members from newborn to seniors.

Some of the popular programs she has helped to develop are Baby Time, Story Time, Indigenous Story Time, Lismore Let’s Read, Teen nights, HSC Help, book clubs, Tech Savvy for Seniors, Law Talks, multicultural events and home library services.

Lismore City Council General Manager Jon Gibbons congratulated Ms Kinsley on her

“When COVID shut libraries in 2021, Lucy quickly introduced new procedures, like click and collect so that the community could start borrowing books and items again. And then after our city was hit by the worst natural disaster in recorded history, Lucy showed unwavering strength and dedication cleaning out the library and establishing two pop-up libraries.

“It’s hard imaging the Richmond Tweed Regional Library and Lismore Library without her.”

The establishment of the pop-up libraries and the re-imaging of the Mobile Library (de-livered in a station wagon after the bus was damaged by food waters) won the Best Innovation and Outreach category in the 2002 NSW Public Libraries Association Awards.

Ms Kinsley was also awarded the Public Service Medal for Outstanding Public Service to Community Library Services in New South Wales in 2018.

UNBEKNOWNST to many, this year marks the 140th anniversary of the passing of Karl Marx; a looming cultural figure that became one of the most influential thinkers of all time.

For those that mightn’t know, in a red, roasted nutshell – Marx was the German economist and social theorist that hatched the ideology of Marxism, that in turn morphed into Socialism and Communism.

Intriguingly, Marx was sent packing and ran out of at least three countries for his groundbreaking views; views that dared to take by the horns near-on every sacred cow that the western world had chosen to blindly accept. From religion to the still conflictual predominance of unequally distributed wealth, social class divides, and the (mis) ownership of private property.

One of the central fundaments of Marx’s outlook was his ever equalising, “From each according to their ability, to each according to their needs.” An adage, that in time would prove ten-fold too lofty to ever realise in practice. Relatedly, what Marx couldn’t have foreseen, but no doubt had the hunch to suspect, is the halflings Communism would cough to the top by way of its sound principles, which doubled as approaches that were utterly unrealisable, beyond the hot air of discussing them with mere conviction.

Intriguingly, some of the most despicable dictators and despots, have been leaders of different Communist regimes; of the likes of Joseph Stalin, that ruthlessly and small-mindedly abused their positions of power. Which is a sad blight on the copybook of a social initiative that merely

By Tim Howard