A QUEST to improve quality of life for head and neck cancer patients in the aftermath of surgery earned a Gwent nurse a national award.

Maureen Dobbins' research into improving communication between patients and those looking after them won her the cancer care category in the British Journal of Nursing's National Clinical Practice Awards.

Mrs Dobbins, an ENT (ear, nose and throat) clinical nurse specialist at the Royal Gwent Hospital, Newport, is proud of her achievement, but hopes its real value will be in raising the profile of head and neck cancer and public awareness of the disease.

"This disease often presents late. People don't come forward often until it's too late and the prognosis poor," she said.

Though there are other factors, heavy alcohol consumption and smoking are common among case histories of head and neck cancer patients, and south-east Wales has a higher than average incidence.

The consequences of surgery can be traumatic, with voicebox and tongue removal among the common outcomes. This can lead to the communication problems that formed the basis of Mrs Dobbins' research.

"The first days after surgery, when patients are really vulnerable, some cannot even write down what they want to say," she said.

"There are robotic voice prosthetics for patients who have had their voicebox or tongue removed, but while these are all right for later, just after surgery they won't do because they rely on patients pressing them against their skin.

"When you've got staples down the sides of your throat, tubes inserted and so on, that's not an option.

"I viewed three patients from a nursing station. Two could not read or write so they were very isolated and I thought there had to be something better for them."

Mrs Dobbins interviewed patients, families, "everyone from the tea ladies to the consultants".

"We hadn't realised patients talked to tea ladies because they did not want to disturb us (nurses). The tea ladies often pass on vital information to us," she added.

Mrs Dobbins hopes her research, supported by ENT consultants and Gwent Healthcare Trust, will inform the development of a speech device for these patients.