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Canadian Cancer Centre Response to COVID-19 Pandemic: A National and Provincial Response

Background: COVID-19 has spread rapidly, requiring health delivery systems to undertake dramatic transformations. To evaluate these system changes, we undertook one of the first Canadian health delivery system reviews and the first Canadian cancer centre evaluation of pandemic system modifications....

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Autores principales: Rittberg, Rebekah, Mann, Anmol, Desautels, Danielle, Earle, Craig C., Navaratnam, Sri, Pitz, Marshall
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7900889/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33704191
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/curroncol28010026
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author Rittberg, Rebekah
Mann, Anmol
Desautels, Danielle
Earle, Craig C.
Navaratnam, Sri
Pitz, Marshall
author_facet Rittberg, Rebekah
Mann, Anmol
Desautels, Danielle
Earle, Craig C.
Navaratnam, Sri
Pitz, Marshall
author_sort Rittberg, Rebekah
collection PubMed
description Background: COVID-19 has spread rapidly, requiring health delivery systems to undertake dramatic transformations. To evaluate these system changes, we undertook one of the first Canadian health delivery system reviews and the first Canadian cancer centre evaluation of pandemic system modifications. Methods: Questionnaires were distributed to the Canadian Association of Provincial Cancer Agencies (CAPCA) members in order to assess changes to cancer centre services and patient management. Documentation relating to COVID-19 from the CAPCA electronic space was accessed, and all publicly available cancer centre documentation related to COVID-19 was reviewed. Results: Seven provinces completed the questionnaire and had documentation available from the CAPCA electronic space. All screening programs across Canada were suspended. In most provinces surveyed, ≥50% of outpatient appointments were occurring virtually, with <25% using video platforms. Generally, the impact on diagnostic imaging and new patient referrals correlated with the impact of COVID-19. Most provinces had a reduction in operating room availability, with chemotherapy and radiation treatments continuing. Public health modification, including personal protective equipment and screening staff, varied across the country. Conclusion: Canadian cancer centres underwent a rapid and aggressive transformation of services in response to COVID-19, with many similarities and differences across provinces. In part, this response was facilitated by communication under a national association, which in Canada remains unique to cancer. This response may serve to inform changes in other jurisdictions or disease states now and in future waves of the pandemic, as well as a record of changes for future health services and patient outcome research.
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spelling pubmed-79008892021-02-24 Canadian Cancer Centre Response to COVID-19 Pandemic: A National and Provincial Response Rittberg, Rebekah Mann, Anmol Desautels, Danielle Earle, Craig C. Navaratnam, Sri Pitz, Marshall Curr Oncol Article Background: COVID-19 has spread rapidly, requiring health delivery systems to undertake dramatic transformations. To evaluate these system changes, we undertook one of the first Canadian health delivery system reviews and the first Canadian cancer centre evaluation of pandemic system modifications. Methods: Questionnaires were distributed to the Canadian Association of Provincial Cancer Agencies (CAPCA) members in order to assess changes to cancer centre services and patient management. Documentation relating to COVID-19 from the CAPCA electronic space was accessed, and all publicly available cancer centre documentation related to COVID-19 was reviewed. Results: Seven provinces completed the questionnaire and had documentation available from the CAPCA electronic space. All screening programs across Canada were suspended. In most provinces surveyed, ≥50% of outpatient appointments were occurring virtually, with <25% using video platforms. Generally, the impact on diagnostic imaging and new patient referrals correlated with the impact of COVID-19. Most provinces had a reduction in operating room availability, with chemotherapy and radiation treatments continuing. Public health modification, including personal protective equipment and screening staff, varied across the country. Conclusion: Canadian cancer centres underwent a rapid and aggressive transformation of services in response to COVID-19, with many similarities and differences across provinces. In part, this response was facilitated by communication under a national association, which in Canada remains unique to cancer. This response may serve to inform changes in other jurisdictions or disease states now and in future waves of the pandemic, as well as a record of changes for future health services and patient outcome research. MDPI 2020-12-31 /pmc/articles/PMC7900889/ /pubmed/33704191 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/curroncol28010026 Text en © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Rittberg, Rebekah
Mann, Anmol
Desautels, Danielle
Earle, Craig C.
Navaratnam, Sri
Pitz, Marshall
Canadian Cancer Centre Response to COVID-19 Pandemic: A National and Provincial Response
title Canadian Cancer Centre Response to COVID-19 Pandemic: A National and Provincial Response
title_full Canadian Cancer Centre Response to COVID-19 Pandemic: A National and Provincial Response
title_fullStr Canadian Cancer Centre Response to COVID-19 Pandemic: A National and Provincial Response
title_full_unstemmed Canadian Cancer Centre Response to COVID-19 Pandemic: A National and Provincial Response
title_short Canadian Cancer Centre Response to COVID-19 Pandemic: A National and Provincial Response
title_sort canadian cancer centre response to covid-19 pandemic: a national and provincial response
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7900889/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33704191
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/curroncol28010026
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