Are patients satisfied with the head and neck skin cancer service? An evaluation of outpatient services with a review of published reports.

Scientific publications place much emphasis on postoperative outcomes such as recurrence, but little attention to patients' satisfaction. The purpose of this evaluation was to find out patients' reported outcomes after their initial consultation, treatment, and follow-up appointments for non-melanoma skin cancer of the head and neck. We used an adapted version of the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) validated questionnaire for patients' satisfaction to collect data prospectively from consenting patients between September and December 2015. A total of 179 questionnaires were completed (initial consultation n=51, treatment n=74, and follow up n=54). Patients were most satisfied with the appointments for treatment (Kruskal-Wallis p<0.001, mean (SD) score 4.86/5 (0.15)), and 87% regarding the service as excellent. Patients were least satisfied with services and organisation of care compared with nurses and doctors (Kruskal-Wallis p<0.001). There seemed to be most satisfaction after the appointment for treatment. A possible explanation could simply be the relief of having finally had their cancer removed. Patients are also likely to show greater satisfaction with the clinical team because of the personal nature of the interaction that they experience during this aspect of their care.

Patients' expectations and online presence of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery in the United Kingdom.

In patient-centred medical practice, consideration of the patients' expectations is vital to the planning and delivery of service. Modern medicine must use the continuing advances in information technology to disseminate knowledge and raise awareness among patients and the public. People increasingly use the Internet to search for information on health, and the online presence of an organisation or a profession is known to bring a wide range of benefits. We aimed to find out what patients expect from the website of an Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (OMFS) unit and to assess the online presence of OMFS units in the United Kingdom. Results from 100 self-administered questionnaires showed that there were 18 common domains that patients would like to see on OMFS websites. When ranked according to the number of times they were mentioned, a map of the department was mentioned most and the complaints policy least. Of the 156 OMFS units in the UK, only 51% have websites and of these, 80% are in London. There were none in Wales and Northern Ireland. Only half of the websites contained information that related to patients' expectations. Strategies to improve the content of websites for OMFS units and to improve their online presence are urgently needed.

Partial avulsion of the inferior rectus: an unusual cause of diplopia after blunt orbital trauma.

A 14-year-old boy had a severe blow to the right orbit, which caused a blow-out fracture of the orbital floor and damage to the inferior rectus with resultant diplopia. After two operations his vision is still not perfect.

Use of an external fixator to stabilise the proximal mandibular segments during reconstruction.

The main aims of mandibular reconstruction are to reproduce the three dimensional position of the patients' mandible with the condyles in the glenoid fossae. We describe a simple technique using an external fixator to stabilise the proximal mandibular segments during resection to aid reconstruction.

Synovial sarcoma of the hard palate.

Synovial sarcoma is a rare soft tissue tumour of uncertain histogenesis and intraorally they occur mainly in young adults. We present a case of synovial sarcoma of the hard palate in a 68-year-old woman. To our knowledge, there is no previously reported instance of this tumour at this site.