St James facility changes treatment for cancer patients

Changes will be made to cancer treatment for patients of the St James Medical Complex in response to the covid19 pandemic. - Vidya Thurab
Changes will be made to cancer treatment for patients of the St James Medical Complex in response to the covid19 pandemic. - Vidya Thurab

St James Medical Complex director Dr Kellie-Anne Alleyne Mike has said precautions are being taken to protect patients coming to the centre for cancer treatments during the covid19 pandemic.

At a virtual news conference on Saturday, Alleyne-Mike said, "The impact of covid19 on cancer is still emerging as we learn more and more about this disease."

She disclosed that patients being treated for cancer are being divided into two groups – patients who are well, who have been treated for their diseases and those patients on active treatment and may need a special level of care.

In the case of the former, Alleyene Mike said the treatments for these patients will be postponed for two or three weeks. For the latter, Alleyne Mike said oral or intravenous treatment could be used instead of chemotherapy.

She also said the time between these patients' treatments could be lengthened to reduce the number of times they come to the centre.

Alleyne-Mike also said sanitisation stations have been placed at the centre to help ensure the safety of patients and staff. She said the centre continues to pool information from several jurisdictions as it seeks to determine the best strategies to protect cancer patients from covid19.

Comments

"St James facility changes treatment for cancer patients"

More in this section