Tracey O’Brien: Providing person-centred care with compassion and empathy is key to our work in cancer

Tracey O’Brien shared the following on LinkedIn:

“Our health system has to be equipped to support people at the most challenging time of their lives. When someone is diagnosed with cancer, it can feel like the world is caving in on them, with the idea of having to face cancer treatment overwhelming.

Released today by the Bureau of Health Information, the latest Outpatient Cancer Clinics Survey highlights what many of us Cancer Institute NSW know all too well – that cancer care in NSW is truly world-class. More than 8,000 cancer patients from across the state provided feedback with almost all (98 per cent) rating their overall care as ‘very good’ or ‘good’.

Almost all patients rated staff who treated them as kind and caring towards them, and 97 per cent said they were always treated with respect and dignity.
Providing person-centred care with compassion and empathy is key to our work in cancer. While there are always improvements to be made, today, I’d like to thank those who took the time to share their feedback and acknowledge the dedicated multi-disciplinary and non-clinical support staff working across NSW’s cancer outpatient centres, who work to keep people safe and supported through their cancer journey.”

For more information click here.
Source: Tracey O’Brien/LinkedIn.

Dr. Tracey O’Brien is the NSW Chief Cancer Officer and CEO of the Cancer Institute NSW, Australia. Before her current role, Tracey was Director of the Kids Cancer Centre, Sydney Children’s Hospital, and Director of the Transplant & Cellular Therapy Program. Tracey has held numerous high-profile national and international leadership positions, including Advisory Chair, Cancer Australia; V/Chair (Africa, Asia and Australasia) International Centre for Bone Marrow Transplant Research and V/President of the Australian and New Zealand Children’s Oncology Group. In recognition of her exceptional contributions, Tracey was profiled in 2023 as one of the world’s foremost women in paediatric cancer by the International Society of Paediatric Oncology. In 2019 Tracey was named in the Australian Financial Review’s prestigious Top 10 Women of Influence, winning the Innovation category. In addition to her medical expertise, Tracey has a Master of Law (Health) and executive MBA and serves as a conjoint Professor in Clinical Medicine (UNSW) and Honorary Professor in Science and Engineering (Macquarie University). Dr. O’Brien remains committed to mentoring the next generation of clinician leaders and maintains an active clinical practice in cancer survivorship at Sydney Children’s Hospital.