#HeadNeckNZ HNC online survivor support network

Participation in #HeadNeckNZ Head & Neck Cancer (HNC) online survivor support network - a surgeon’s perspective

All doctors (including surgeons) are encouraged to practice ‘patient centred care’. There are varying interpretations of this but an accepted view is that it requires good communication, partnership with patients and their families as well as health promotion. I believe that the digital transformation underway in healthcare provides tools to extend our duty of care into the ‘internet of care’. The opportunities for improved communication and shared understanding of the issues that arise in treating cancer through the use of online technologies are many.

When I heard about #HeadNeckNZ it was an easy decision to get on board. This support network is a rapidly growing online community of ‘e-patients’ – people who have experienced treatment in the health system and who Dave de Bronkart (@epatientDave) describes as “equipped, enabled, empowered and engaged”.

The relationship that Dave de Bronkart has with his primary care doctor, Dr Danny Sands (@DrDannySands) is a good example of a modern ‘Patient-Doctor relationship’ with a balance of power acknowledging both patient expertise and physician expertise, sharing information and knowledge, listening and learning.

The #HeadNeckNZ online support network provides me with an exciting opportunity to gain insight into the experience of patients and make me more empathetic in my role as a surgeon. I can provide curated credible information for the network and use the knowledge gained from so many stories to activate for improvement in our health system. I would encourage my colleagues to consider how they might contribute too.

“It’s like joining an extended family with an eclectic group of participants with shared goals. Nothing to lose, everything to gain.” @Steele_Bob #LCSM

David Grayson FRACS
Clinical Director Otolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery
Clinical Lead Patient Safety & Patient Experience
Waitemata DHB

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