We work with the Scottish Parliament

Macmillan Cancer Support, the Scottish Government, NHS Scotland, the cancer networks and local authorities are working together on the Transforming Care After Treatment (TCAT) programme.

With £5m of funding from Macmillan Cancer Support, TCAT helps to design services that are more tailored to the needs, preferences and priorities of individual cancer patients. It is hoped that by testing new ways of delivering care and support to people with cancer during and after treatment, ones which receive positive feedback from patients will become sustained and embedded in everyday practice, improving the overall support cancer patients in Scotland receive.

Now at phase 3 of its five-year life-span, there are 25 TCAT pilot projects taking place within the NHS and local authorities across Scotland. All are unique, but each project includes at least one of four key components: holistic needs assessment and care planning; end of treatment summaries; cancer care reviews; and health and wellbeing events.

These components are all designed to improve the aftercare experience of the patient and to work successfully all require much greater communication and collaboration between health and social care services. Patients also play a key role in the delivery and design of TCAT, deciding which projects should go ahead and providing feedback about their experiences.

By providing the opportunity for cancer networks, health boards, local authorities and third sector organisations to work together it is hoped that the new ways of delivering services to people affected by cancer could become sustained and embedded in everyday practice, improving the overall support they are receiving.

It is hoped the results of the pilots will act as a significant stepping stone to meeting the needs of those affected by cancer in Scotland after their treatment ends with the learnings used to transform cancer care services across the country.

More information

• Find out more about TCAT on our blog

Contact us about TCAT

• Gordon Mclean, TCAT Programme Manager: gmclean@macmillan.org.uk

In February 2014, Macmillan’s Improving the Cancer Journey (ICJ) service was launched, to ensure everyone with cancer in Glasgow was automatically offered financial, emotional and practical support. It was the first service of its kind in the UK.

Every newly diagnosed cancer patient in Glasgow is sent a letter offering them time with a link worker to talk about their support needs, using a tool called a Holistic Needs Assessment (HNA) to guide the conversation. Based on this, a care plan is created, outlining the kind of support the person with cancer needs and how they will get it. 

The link worker can provide the person with cancer with the information they need to take control and contact support organisations on their own, or can work on their behalf to coordinate support from multiple agencies. During the first evaluation period ICJ referred people to over 220 different agencies across the city, most non-cancer and non-health specific.

ICJ is a partnership between Macmillan, Glasgow City Council, the Beatson Cancer Charity, Cordia, Glasgow Life, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and the Wheatley Group. 

Find out more

• Improving Glasgow’s cancer journey
• Evaluation of Glasgow: Improving the cancer journey programme [PDF]

Macmillan contributed to the research on end of life care which resulted in the Scottish Government publishing 'The Framework for Action on Palliative and End of Life Care' in December 2015. The Cancer Plan 'Beating Cancer: Ambition and Action', published in March 2016 also committed to improving end of life care – and Macmillan is leading on the implementation of this work through a combination of Macmillan professionals and workforce training and development programmes.

With the ever-increasing number of people being diagnosed with cancer, the pressure on end of life services in Scotland will continue to grow. We are a long way from ensuring everyone gets the palliative and end of life care that they and their families deserve.

Find out more

• Read our information on Palliative and end of life care