National Education Day – 6th June 2005
Dilemmas in Caring for Young People with Cancer
Event Summary
TYAC held its first National Education Day on June 6th 2005 at Friends Meeting House, Euston Road, London. The event was attended by 87 delegates from a wide variety of professional backgrounds.
Entitled ‘Dilemmas in Caring for Young People with Cancer’ the day focussed on ethical and service dilemmas encountered in the care of young people with cancer.
The morning session explored service issues. The day began with introductory sessions from the Chair of TYAC, Dr Jeremy Whelan and from Simon Davies (Chief Executive Officer of Teenage Cancer Trust). Simon presented highlights from an interactive survey held at the Find Your Sense of Tumour Conference 2004. These highlights offered a fascinating insight into the adolescent’s experience of their illness.
Talks followed on ‘How to Provide a Service for Young Adults’ and ‘How should we look after young people with leukaemia and lymphoma’: ‘Which Treatment?’ and ‘The Best Environment and Staff’.
The afternoon focussed on ethical dilemmas. An excellent and thought provoking group work session was held looking at case studies of individual patients.
Complementing the case discussions was a presentation from Stephen Evans, a solicitor who specialises in Health Care Litigation. Stephen was involved in one of the particular cases discussed in the group work session, and it was very interesting to have the case presented from a legal perspective.
Lastly, Dr Rob George gave an excellent talk on Ethics: ‘What ought we do when someone says no?’ This session covered the ethical landscape, exploring a patient’s freedoms and entitlements, and what happens when these freedoms and entitlements clash.
Presentations from each of the day’s speakers are available to download here.
What the Delegates Thought
“Very informative – look forward to next meeting”
“Brilliantly prepared – well done”
“Excellent linking case history with legal presentation”
“Excellent overall content”
“Great opportunity for networking”
“So much chat over lunch – couldn’t hear myself think!”
