Out-going President, Professor Vinidh Paleri, opened the British Association of Head and Neck Oncologists Annual Scientific Meeting on 19th May to a completely full house! This was Professor Stuart Winter’s first event as Conference Secretary and the Royal College of Physicians was absolutely buzzing with surgeons, oncologists and Allied Health Professionals keen to learn about and share the latest research and best practice in head and neck oncology. Twenty-four of the 108 submitted abstracts were chosen for oral presentation – and these will now be published in the Journal of Oral Pathology and Medicine. The standard of the poster presentations was also extremely high.
A highlight of the event was the annual Blair Hesketh Memorial Lecture. This is made possible by the kind donation from Mr Rollo Hesketh, in memory of his father, and by the Oracle Cancer Trust. This year’s presentation by Dr Liz O’Riordan, “Patients are peopleâ€, fitted perfectly into the conference’s main theme of “Decision making in head and neck cancer careâ€. Liz, pictured above, is an international speaker, broadcaster and author – who also happened to be a consultant breast surgeon when she was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer. Her talk reminded everyone that empathy, sensitivity to the patient’s fears and better understanding of interventions are vital components of the treatment process.
Professor Paleri has put equality and equity at the front and centre of BAHNO policies – and has now handed over the Presidency of this thriving Association to Mr Ceri Hughes.
