Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017 Mar 11;17(1):186.
doi: 10.1186/s12885-017-3172-1.

A survey to determine usual care after cancer treatment within the United Kingdom national health service

M Duncan  1 , J Deane  2 , P D White  1 , D Ridge  3 , R Roylance  4 , A Korszun  1 , T Chalder  5 , K S Bhui  1 , M A Thaha  6 , L Bourke  7 ; SURECAN investigators
Collaborators, Affiliations

A survey to determine usual care after cancer treatment within the United Kingdom national health service

M Duncan et al. BMC Cancer. .

Abstract

Background: Approximately one third of cancer survivors in the United Kingdom face ongoing and debilitating psychological and physical symptoms related to poor quality of life. Very little is known about current post-cancer treatment services.

Methods: Oncology healthcare professionals (HCPs) were invited to take part in a survey, which gathered both quantitative and free text data about the content and delivery of cancer aftercare and patient needs. Analysis involved descriptive statistics and content analysis.

Results: There were 163 complete responses from 278 survey participants; 70% of NHS acute trusts provided data. HCPs views on patient post-cancer treatment needs were most frequently: fear of recurrence (95%), fatigue (94%), changes in physical capabilities (89%), anxiety (89%) and depression (88%). A median number of 2 aftercare sessions were provided (interquartile range: 1,4) lasting between 30 and 60 min. Usually these were provided face-to-face and intermittently by a HCP. However, sessions did not necessarily address the issues HCPs asserted as important. Themes from free-text responses highlighted inconsistencies in care, uncertain funding for services and omission of some evidence based approaches.

Conclusion: Provision of post-cancer treatment follow-up care is neither universal nor consistent in the NHS, nor does it address needs HCPs identified as most important.

Keywords: Cancer; Follow-up; NHS; Post-treatment; Quality of Life; Survey.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Maddams J, Brewster D, Gavin A, Steward J, Elliott J, Utley M, Moller H. Cancer prevalence in the United Kingdom: estimates for 2008. Br J Cancer. 2009;101(3):541–547. doi: 10.1038/sj.bjc.6605148. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Elliott J, Fallows A, Staetsky L, Smith PW, Foster CL, Maher EJ, Corner J. The health and well-being of cancer survivors in the UK: findings from a population-based survey. Br J Cancer. 2011;105(Suppl 1):S11–20. doi: 10.1038/bjc.2011.418. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Quality of Life of Cancer Survivors in England: Report on a pilot survey using Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMS). https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/fil.... Accessed 21 May 2016.
    1. Armes J, Crowe M, Colbourne L, Morgan H, Murrells T, Oakley C, Palmer N, Ream E, Young A, Richardson A. Patients’ supportive care needs beyond the end of cancer treatment: a prospective, longitudinal survey. J Clin Oncol. 2009;27(36):6172–6179. doi: 10.1200/JCO.2009.22.5151. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bourke L, Boorjian SA, Briganti A, Klotz L, Mucci L, Resnick MJ, Rosario DJ, Skolarus TA, Penson DF. Survivorship and improving quality of life in Men with prostate cancer. Eur Urol. 2015;68(3):374–83. doi: 10.1016/j.eururo.2015.04.023. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources