Home Icon Elevate Episode 2: Hayley Fairless and Brock Ditton

Episode 2: Hayley Fairless and Brock Ditton

Elevate episode with Hayley Fairless and Brock Ditton

Icon Oncology Group’s Cairns team is leading the way for our organisation in driving Belonging initiatives. Icon Oncology Group’s CEO Mark Middleton sits down with two team members from Icon Cancer Centre Cairns, Brock Ditton and Hayley Fairless, to explore the theme of ‘reconciliation’ and the work our people are doing to engage local Indigenous communities to progress equity, cultural safety and better healthcare outcomes for all.

Hayley and Brock represent part of Icon Oncology Group’s Indigenous employee led inclusion group (ELIG) and the pair are enthusiastically driving fantastic work through Icon Cancer Centres in Far North Queensland (FNQ), Australia.

In this special interview, Brock and Hayley cover the ‘4Cs Project’, a collaboration between the University of Queensland, Queensland Health, the Menzies Institute, and Icon Oncology Group, that aims to address the gap in healthcare available for our First Nations people.

They have a strong passion for health equity which is what led them to join Icon Oncology Group’s Indigenous ELIG and spearhead the 4Cs Project that supports “communication and collaboration in cancer care” for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Brock and Hayley discuss ideas around improving cultural safety for all patients as we move towards reconciliation; they have dedicated their work to improving healthcare outcomes, language and geographic barriers which are particularly pertinent in Cairns and FNQ.

They share their views on the importance of cultural awareness training and what it means to the teams in their regions, and highlight simple but effective ideas for how all workplaces can create meaningful change.

About Brock Ditton

Brock Ditton, Site Manager, Icon Cancer Centre Cairns, is an experienced radiation therapist, leading the delivery of cancer care in a regional setting across Cairns’ two radiation oncology centres. As a passionate patient advocate with a belief in the team’s ability to affect real change in the community not just through frontline treatments, but also through various engagement initiatives, his commitment to quality improvement is steadfast.

The most prominent of these initiatives is the work underway for First Nations peoples, to be more inclusive and targeted in addressing the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and improving the education and capability of the radiation therapy team to sustainably Close the Gap in healthcare. Brock is most proud of opening two new Icon cancer centres in North Queensland, alongside amazing teams and generous communities, to meaningfully drive health outcomes for the better.

About Hayley Fairless

Hayley Fairless, radiation therapist, Icon Cancer Centre Cairns: Hayley’s clinical experience gained from regional centres ignited her passion for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health. Since her employment with Icon Cancer Centre Cairns, Hayley’s desire to contribute to the improvement of First Nations health has led her to join the Indigenous employee led inclusion group (ELIG) and to secure a research assistant role in the project, Collaboration and Communication in Cancer Care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It is through these initiatives and staff education that Hayley hopes to create lasting enhancements to patient experiences and step closer to achieving health equity and Closing the Gap.

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