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Patients in the Far North seeking private cancer treatment can now receive world class care a little closer to home.
Canopy Cancer Care opened a satellite clinic in Whangarei in August due to an increase in demand for its services.
The new clinic is located in Kamo Street in the Eye Specialists building and will initially be open two days a week, with three oncologists working there. There are also two Canopy Cancer Care clinics located in Auckland (Takapuna and Epsom) and one in Tauranga.
Canopy Cancer Care marketing manager Karen Whiting says the new clinic in Whangarei is important because it means patients in the north won’t have to travel for hours to receive treatment.
“The long journey and time away from family and friends while being treated for cancer is really hard. The new clinic will make a huge difference to local patients,” Karen says.
Canopy Cancer Care, which started seven years ago, offers adult cancer patients the option of world class cancer care, delivered locally. It specialises in caring for patients needing chemotherapy, immunotherapy, antibody therapy, hormone therapy and more targeted therapies.
Karen says patients receive care that’s not always available in the public system.
“Patients are at the heart of everything we do. We want to provide our patients with choice and access to care. We enable our patients to access cancer drugs and treatments, including those not available in the public health system. We’re also able to ensure our patients have continuity of care. Our nurses and doctors specialise in specific areas or tumour streams, and patients are assigned a clinical nurse specialist to co-ordinate their care,” she says.
Canopy Cancer Care doctors also work in the public health system. An on-call doctor is available to patients 24/7, providing round-the-clock peace of mind.
Also on offer is a service called Under the Canopy, which provides an umbrella of services to help patients who need additional support with things such as emotional wellbeing, fitness and exercise and physical rehabilitation.
Patients also have access to a scalp cooling cap treatment at the Epsom clinic, which can in some cases reduce hair loss for people undergoing chemotherapy.
Canopy TV
In July, Canopy Cancer Care launched Canopy TV – an online news channel for the cancer community.
Episode 1 is made up of three parts: Living beyond cancer treatment, Intimacy for women during cancer treatment and How to involve your children in your cancer journey.
Karen says feedback from patients has been amazing and plans for Episode 2 are under way.
“There was a gap in the market for high-quality NZ-made information for the cancer community that’s delivered in a digital form. With the help of medical specialists, industry experts and patients we’ve been able to create some really useful and powerful material.”
How to refer to Canopy Cancer Care
Canopy Cancer Care is located in Whangarei, Auckland (Takapuna and Epsom) and Tauranga.
To refer to Canopy Cancer Care electronically:
- open the patient record
- launch the HealthLink homepage
- using the CareSelect search bar – type “Canopy”
- click “Compose Referral”.