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Dr Stella Heley, BA (Hons), MB BS, Dip
Ven (Lond), FACSHP Liaison Physician, Victorian Cytology Service
When VCS commenced operation in 1965, cervical screening was an
opportunistic process. In the late 1980s it was recognised that
there should be an organised program of screening, involving recruitment
of women, improving the quality of the sample, improving the quality
of laboratories and ensuring that appropriate management options
were available to women with abnormal smears.
The development of all steps in this "screening cascade"
required a major change in thinking on the part of all health care
professionals. VCS formed the opinion that it should take the lead
in such an educational process, and developed a series of initiatives
to put this in place. One of the most important was the appointment
of Dr Stella Heley as the VCS Liaison Physician whose role was to
communicate widely with health care practitioners in Victoria.
Over the last decade Dr Heley has met and spoken to literally hundreds
of doctors and nurse practitioners and her work has encompassed
enormous variety. She has visited scores of practices, either to
speak with individual doctors or to address a group, perhaps at
a lunchtime meeting. Dr Heley has given numerous lectures on all
aspects of the cervical screening program, from the technique of
taking a Pap smear to the advent and advisability of using the new
technologies. She has spoken to hundreds of our practitioners on
the telephone concerning patient management or a smear interpretation,
or to let them know about our Quality Assurance Program and an amended
smear report.
As a clinician, she has been able to address problems that directly
relate to taking a smear, while specifically understanding the need
of the Victorian Cytology Service for a correctly taken sample.
She understands the frustration of the "hidden" cervix;
the dilemma of what to do about the mucus covering the cervix, the
problem of the stenotic canal. She knows what it's like to receive
an "unsatisfactory" result or a recurrent inflammatory
report.
Explaining the significance of an HPV report many times and watching
a woman's face cloud with anxiety when told that there may be evidence
of CIN are just two of the many scenarios encountered by Dr Heley
in her role as a practicing clinician. She will gladly answer questions
concerning topics as diverse as the sterilisation of instruments
and the problems associated with atrophy and cytolysis. Her expertise
in sexual health medicine, and particularly in sexually transmissible
infections, has often led to extensive discussion of patient management.
As well as visiting suburban practices to discuss a range of subjects
(including setting up a screening and recall system), Dr Heley has
also made many country visits over the last ten years. By doing
this we hope to give our practitioners the opportunity to discuss
any problems they might have on a personal basis. These trips have
also given Dr Heley the chance to discuss some of the difficulties
faced in country Victoria such as the lack of general practitioners
(especially females) and the relative scarcity of specialist gynaecologists.
Being involved in the practical aspects of the cervical screening
program has been a tremendous advantage for Dr Heley's work as the
VCS Liaison Physician.
VCS has always prided itself on its availability of expert Cytopathologists
to discuss problems in interpretation and/or management of a
woman's
Pap smear report. VCS is unique in having a Liaison Physician specifically
employed to act as a go-between for the Service and our practitioners.
Dr Stella Heley began working with VCS in November 1989. As well
as her Liaison Physician position, Dr Heley practises as a Sexual
Health Physician at Melbourne Sexual Health Centre.
If you would like to speak with her or arrange for her to visit
your practice, she may be contacted at VCS on 9250 0300,
mobile 0407 328 017, e-mail sheley@vcs.org.au
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