Assessment and care planning

Summer 2011

Assessment and care planning.

More than 25% of people with cancer have unmet needs a year after treatment.^[1] Both oncologists and GPs have an important role to play in improving this situation.

 

As part of the National Cancer Survivorship Initiative (NCSI), Macmillan has supported two key initiatives that will help to improve patient experience at key transition points across the care pathway.The first of these is the Treatment Summary, which is a set template form that is completed by the oncologist at the end of treatment and sent to the GP. It provides key information for GPs including possible treatment toxicities, alert symptoms, and any actions for the GP.

 

The Treatment Summary also includes a list of useful GP read-codes (a coded thesaurus of clinical terms) to enable consistent coding and management in primary care.

 

The Treatment Summary is currently being used at the NCSI prototype test sites, having been successfully tested last year. A template is available on the NCSI wesbite|.

 

The second initiative is the Cancer Care Review. This is a conversation that the GP has with the patient within six months of diagnosis. Macmillan has developed read-coded Cancer Care Review templates. Practices using EMIS or INPS systems can access the Macmillan template directly within their clinical systems. The templates encourage a more structured discussion, encompassing key areas of care, and provide practical solutions for GPs to support these discussions.

 

Both initiatives encourage better assessment, coordination and planning, improving the patient experience by triggering key conversations with patients and improving communication between primary and secondary care.

 

Early reports on the Cancer Care Review show that:

 

- 81% of GPs surveyed find the template user friendly

 

 

- 71% of patients found the process very satisfactory

Reference

1. Armes. Patients’ Supportive Care Needs Beyond the End of Cancer Treatment: A Prospective, Longitudinal Survey. Journal of Clinical Oncology. 2009.

More information

The NCSI is a partnership between Macmillan and the Department of Health|, supported by NHS Improvement|.