Article Summary:
HealthCareEverything- September 2022
The solutions have led to a revamped healthcare system that focuses immensely on the right diagnosis, scientifically advanced treatments, accessibility, affordability, and efficient delivery of medical services. To encourage the reach beyond social restrictions, most hospitals over the globe is evidently incorporating these changes to never let the realities of the past become the essence of the future anymore.
One such hospital delivering on the technological innovation segment is Malaysia’s Beacon Hospital, which focuses on highly accurate radiation treatment and offers curative radiotherapy treatment with minimal damage or side effects to the normal tissue, which has therapeutic advantages in terms of good local control and low toxicity for his patients. They are providing this technology at a cost that is affordable to all its patients.
Guiding the hospital is its Medical Director and Consultant Clinical Oncologist – Dato’ Dr. Mohamed Ibrahim Bin Dato’ Hj. Abdul Wahid; he has a long journey and experience in the field of cancer care and is today leading a positive change in the healthcare industry.
Role of the Beacon of the Hospital
The Medical Director of Beacon Hospital believes that cancer treatment requires multidisciplinary care not only in oncology but also in palliative care, haematology, surgery, and physicians from various specialties. Therefore, he says, “My vision is to transform Beacon Hospital into a specialist hospital focusing on cancer treatment.”
For this reason, he underscores the need to have an integrated approach to cancer treatment so that patients will get the best care and best treatment for cancer; this is enabled by his vast pool of service and knowledge gained over the years.
Pool of Options
The key services in Beacon Hospital are delivering cutting-edge radiotherapy and offering the latest technology in cancer care which is only available in key major teaching hospitals in Europe and the US. He says, “However, we are proud that we are able to offer such technology in this private center, making us one of the key advanced cancer centers in the region.”
The Machines in Focus
Talking about the technological edge of the hospital, he expresses, “In Beacon Hospital, we not only try to bring in cutting-edge technology but also those technologies that, although using very expensive machines, have managed to curb the cost of treatment.”
This approach has actively made cutting-edge technology affordable to many patients.
Lessons in the Journey
There is a moment in everyone’s lives that impacts their lives profoundly. Sharing about one such experience, Dato’ Dr. Ibrahim, “When I first came back to Malaysia, there were very few oncologists. We were relying on very basic technology. At that time, I was using machines in a government hospital, and we had a long waiting list, and the machines were unreliable and broke down frequently, resulting in a stretched waiting time for treatments.”
Continuing the story, he says, “Also, the side effects were quite profound with the older machine. A lot of patients complained about the toxicity and the devastating damage caused by radiation. I felt that we had to change the way we managed patients with radiation. Hence, bringing in new technology with more precise and accurate techniques was essential in cutting down on the morbidity of treatment.”
Based on this, he and his team at the hospital worked on improving their treatment techniques using such technology until they could achieve higher success rates along with the least toxicity. He aims to enhance this further and deliver awarding results to his patients.
Towards Brighter Days
He envisions having cancer services in every major city so that patients do not have to travel far to get treatment. With this, he believes that he can improve a patient’s outcome.
Sharing insights on the upcoming work of the hospital, he says, “Our future goals include not only good access to cancer treatment but also making cutting-edge technology affordable to people. In Beacon, we emphasize high-quality treatment at a very competitive cost. We do not compromise on quality, and we do not discriminate on affordability.”
The Road to Take
Radiation therapy is continually evolving, and hence Dato’ Dr. Ibrahim feels that junior doctors should not limit themselves to just reading and learning from textbooks alone.
He believes that they should venture forth and do clinical attachment in a technically advanced cancer treatment center overseas so that they can enhance their knowledge and also their vision in terms of new techniques.
Emphasizing the significant aspect, he says, “In oncology, you need to be innovative. You need to see what others do not see and do what others people do not do. Only with such philosophy will you be able to be innovative and successful in a competitive world.”
