Our Charity Mission
Our Vision
The Prostate Cancer Gibraltar (PCG) advocates the highest quality of treatment and supportive care for MEN affected by Prostate Cancer and Prostate Related diseases in Gibraltar.
Our Mission
We Pledge to:
- Highlight Prostate Cancer symptoms and for MEN to check their PSA.
- Purchase Medical Equipment in pursue of the Early Detection of Prostate Cancer.
- Campaign for a diagnostic model with pre-determined time scales.
- Campaign for a Clinical Nurse Specialist for the Prostate Cancer Clinic.
What is our Purpose?
WE WORK TO STOP PROSTATE CANCER KILLING MEN IN GIBRALTAR
What do we Want?
The highest quality of Treatment and Supportive Care for MEN affected by Prostate Cancer and Prostate Related Diseases in Gibraltar.
What do we Do?
We vigorously campaign for the betterment of the health service in Gibraltar for Prostate Cancer and Prostate related diseases by supporting health professionals and the Gibraltar Health Authority.
To limit the impact of Prostate Cancer and Prostate related diseases to Men, their partners and families by providing information, support, advice and counselling.
Early Detection Saves Lives
- Awareness Campaign
This is our most important objective as an early detection of Prostate Cancer has proven to save lives.
The Charity highlights Prostate Cancer symptoms and the need for MEN to check their PSA regularly via a Social Media campaign. Judging from the statistics obtained from the 2019 to 2020 Awareness campaign the charity will continue to promote this objective via social media as it’s proven to be a most effective forum on which to inform the community of Gibraltar.
Every year, we set about constantly informing the local community about the symptoms of Prostate Cancer and of the need to check your PSA.
The Awareness Campaign is promoted in all the social media channels in targeting the local community.
This year, Henry and Priscilla Sacramento, two very well know personalities in Gibraltar took over Tito Vallejo in promoting the Movember Campaign and Prostate Cancer Awareness.
The Charity actively fund raises to pay the costs associated with making Awareness of Prostate Cancer more prominent in our community.
- Medical Equipment
The Charity intends to purchase the Transperineal 3 D Fusion Targeted Biopsy medical equipment in 2021. The diagnostic capabilities of this diagnostic equipment are such that Urology Doctors are able to carry out biopsies even when cancer tumours are in a minuscule form. When compared to the Transrectal biopsies it has less discomfort during diagnosis, a reduced risk of infection, higher detectable rates and most important, it speeds up the diagnostic procedures.
The capital cost of this medical equipment is circa £185,000 paid on a 50:50 basis between the Kusuma Trust and PCG. The Gibraltar Health Authority (GHA) has agreed to cover the ongoing cost of providing the service. PCG expects the medical equipment to be delivered in 2021.
The Charity actively fund raises to be able to pay the costs associated with purchasing the latest medical equipment in the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer and related diseases.
- Betterment of the Health Service in Gibraltar
Prostate Cancer Gibraltar will continue to pursue the various areas where improvements are required and needs addressing. These are as follows:
- Diagnostic Stage – PCG highlights the need to agree a ‘diagnostic model’ with determined timescales, so as to ensure that patients with suspected prostate cancer are able to be diagnosed within 21 days. This would include the PSA testing, MRI and a transperineal biopsy. The current lack of coordination in the process is causing patients huge anxiety.
- Treatment Stage – PCG have forwarded various options for treatment and possible locations for treatment. We acknowledged the privilege of having access to the Urology Department at Guy’s Hospital, which is one of the leading urology centres in Europe.
- Post-treatment Stage – PCG emphasises the difficulties experienced by patients, due to the non-existence of a ‘one-stop-shop’ clinic, with suitably qualified urologist specialist nursing.
- The great need for suitably qualified urologist specialist nurses to run this clinic is stressed, as patients require medical help in urine control, penile dysfunction and physiological support, post surgery.
Prostate Cancer has provided detailed accounts of patient experience since having surgery; in highlighting the shortfall in the care and medical attention offered by the GHA.
Prostate Cancer Gibraltar will vigorously work towards putting in place a Memorandum of Understanding in order to have agreed protocols in place, which will enable suspected prostate patients to be diagnosed with 21 days.
- Dedicated Diagnostic Urology Suite 2022
The majority of urology referrals require a number of diagnostic investigations (flow rates, imaging, flexible cytoscopies, urodynamics). This often necessitates a number of clinic attendances, with a recognition that this requirement for multiple attendances lengthens the time to a definitive diagnosis and often leads to increased incidence of non attendance. A more efficient model of care delivery involves a ‘One Stop Clinic’ approach, aiming to undertake most of the investigations required in a single visit, allowing the majority of patients to leave with a diagnosis and potential management plan at the earliest opportunity. This is a more efficient model of care, and optimises clinic capacity and utilisation.
A multi-professional team approach to the provision and delivery of urological outpatient services potentially involves consultant clinicians, specialist nurses and clinic nurses. This model of care expands the capacity to deliver healthcare beyond the limiting factor of the number of clinician’s.
Currently due to restrictions on clinic space, staff numbers and equipment, the Urology department is not currently able to deliver an optimal level of care to the Community. Despite marked improvements in the patient experience of the service to date, we recognise there is the opportunity to improve and do more.
Our goal is to develop the urology department into an efficient, responsive and patient focused service. We aim to achieve this through replicating examples of best practice in the delivery of clinical care (The Urology One-Stop service at Guy’s Hospital) and adapting them to the health and culture needs in Gibraltar.
A dedicated diagnostic urology suite would allow the delivery of a One-Stop model of care, allowing flow rates, urodynamics, flexible cystoscopy and LA transperineal biopsies. An expansion of the clinical space available to the urology department, to also allow a CNS to undertake independent clinical activity, would further enhance and expand clinical capacity.
Anticipated requirements for this to be delivered include:
- Two additional clinical rooms (Diagnostic suite and CNS clinic room)
- A dedicated cystoscopic imaging stack for urology outpatients
- A cystoscopy sterilisation system in the clinic
- A new generation urology outpatient treatment and examination couch
Prostate Cancer Gibraltar will campaign for the betterment of the health service and fund raise to introduce these service enhancements in the GHA to allow for a locally delivered Urological Diagnostic Centre of Excellence.
- Cancer Relief Centre
A patient, no matter how tough that person may be, in almost all cases, find their world will cave in, when they hear that their diagnosis is you have Prostate Cancer. The patient may find it difficult to come to terms with his diagnosis or find that he has to make a difficult treatment choice.
The charity provides a Buddy Support Group whereby a recently diagnosed patient can talk to a Buddy who has been through a similar experience before and can be of great help and support.
The Charity will continue to organise meetings at the Cancer Relief Centre every 2nd Thursday of every month.
Prostate Cancer Gibraltar will continue to support all recently diagnosed patients with the Support Buddy programme.