Patient praises St George’s for care during the pandemic
Patient Latha was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2013. Following a mastectomy, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, Latha (pictured right) has been under the care of the oncology team at St George’s for the last eight years.
In September 2020, her routine ultrasound scan detected an abnormality, and after a biopsy she was diagnosed with stage two breast cancer. Within two weeks of receiving her diagnosis, Latha’s surgery and subsequent chemotherapy treatment had been booked.
Latha said: “My concern was what treatment will I need, will I have to wait for it, and if so, what impact will that have on my prognosis? However everything moved very quickly. It was clear that a huge amount of planning and preparation was going on behind the scenes to ensure patients could continue treatment in the safest way possible.”
To help keep cancer patients safe at St George’s, enhanced safety measures have been put in place including a Covid-19 test for patients before starting chemotherapy and preappointment screening questionnaires before each treatment.
Latha said: “As someone from a Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic group, and in a higher risk category, I was concerned about putting myself at risk by coming into hospital. However, I was completely put at ease by the precautions I saw in place, from temperature checks on arrival to social distancing measures and restrictions on visitors; everything had been carefully thought through and that was really reassuring.”
Latha finished her chemotherapy treatment in January 2021. She said: “Everyone from the oncology nurses to the surgical team and staff booking my appointments, were absolutely amazing. A special thanks to Dr Muireann Kelleher and her team, who have been fantastic. From a patient perspective it was seamless.”
Well done to all our staff involved in caring for Latha.
