Tracey O’Brien: Closing the care gap for Aboriginal communities is a key health priority

Tracey O’Brien shared a post on LinkedIn:

“It’s the second week of our Reporting for Better Cancer Outcomes (RBCO) tour of NSW cancer services, and it was a privilege to meet the cancer teams at Southern NSW Local Health District and ACT Cancer services and hear about the fantastic care and support being provided to cancer patients in regional NSW.

For people living in Southern NSW, cancer care is delivered in a collaborative cross border partnership with health teams in the ACT. In the region,between four and five people are diagnosed with cancer, with approximately two people losing their lives to the disease each day.

By working together with Clinical Advisory Groups across the state, RBCO uses large linked data sets to look across the pathway of care, helping bring targeted insights and opportunities for improvement to frontline cancer services.

Closing the care gap for Aboriginal communities a key health priority, with this week’s visit once again showcasing the strong regional leadership in this priority area of the NSW Cancer Plan. It’s clear that together with other local and state-wide initiatives, the Aboriginal Wellbeing Survey available via the Patient Reported Measures feedback system is becoming embedded in the work of our state’s cancer services – helping improve the experience of Aboriginal people with cancer.

At the Cancer Institute NSW we’re incredibly grateful for the strong partnership we have with frontline cancer services. It’s always humbling to see the great work taking place across our health system to improve people’s cancer journey.

A heartfelt thanks to Margaret Bennett, Philip Crispin, Melissa Mudie, Kristy Campbell, Lou Fox, Paul Craft, Melissa O’Brien, Mirka Smith and other members of Southern LHD and ACT Cancer services for the warm welcome.”

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.