Check out therapeutic radiographer Jo Strickland’s blog ‘Behind the Mask’ on the Action Radiotherapy website, about the challenges of delivering radiotherapy whilst wearing PPE.
Jo, radiotherapy team leader at Queen Mary's Hospital, Sidcup, south east London, describes how she is finding alternative ways of reassuring and treating her patients: ‘…my smile can no longer be seen, hidden instead by a mask that is all at once necessary, protective and stifling.
"Without the visible presence of my smile, I’m having to turn to other tools in my reassurance toolkit. It’s the eyes that are doing the hard work now, conveying everything my smile once did.
"They have to sparkle, glisten, console, soothe and comfort. They have to smile!’
Action Radiotherapy is a charity is dedicated to improving radiotherapy treatment by supporting radiotherapy research and development, and supporting radiotherapy professionals by providing online tools to enhance collaboration. The organisation believes that every cancer patient in the UK should have access to the best radiotherapy treatment available.
https://www.actionradiotherapy.org/post/jo-strickland-behind-the-mask