Last month, an oncology nurse and speech therapist from a hospital in the United Kingdom spent a week at our Cancer Center working closely with Lowell General oncology nurse Kylie Giarrusso to learn and share best practices in the treatment of head and neck cancer patients.
The visit was made possible by a five-year partnership between the Cancer Center’s Multidisciplinary Head and Neck clinic and medical director Arthur M. Lauretano, MD and the UK-based Swallows Head and Neck Cancer Support Group and its Executive Director Chris Curtis, a cancer survivor. The Swallows work directly with hundreds of hospitals around the world.
Oncology nurse Fahida RehmanManby and speech therapist Sam Gregory, both head and neck specialists at Torbay Hospital in South Devon, UK, said it’s rare for the UK’s National Health Services staff to be allowed to travel overseas for training.
They said they had great respect for the standard of care at Lowell General Hospital and found a lot of similarities between the two community hospitals, including the patient-focused approach. The biggest difference, they said, was the insurance hurdles many American patients face.
Lowell General and The Swallows are also partnering on an exciting innovation: a new app that will provide head and neck cancer patients access to health professionals and support groups and fellow patients from around the world. Lowell General patients will be the first in the United States to have access to the app.
