Exercise in oncology at The Royal Marsden

Blog
Published: 12 October 2021

This initiative was developed to promote exercise in oncology. In this blog, Sarah Dewhurst talks us through what the team at The Royal Marsden did to achieve this, as well as their outcomes.

 

Sarah Dewhurst Oncology Physiotherapist Service Lead, The Royal Marsden

The initiative

This initiative was set up in the Living With and Beyond Cancer team to:
  • create a networking space for physiotherapists to raise issues, share knowledge and experience.

What we did

  • Set up regular meetings of UK based physiotherapists with an interest in exercise-based therapy in oncology. 
  • Reached out to physiotherapists in all settings including pre-registration to ensure diverse representation.
  • Shared knowledge, best practice and training about specific topics, including research and policy.
  • Completed training needs analysis to identify gaps in education and training offers.
  • Lobbied the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy to influence the promotion of the physiotherapy role within exercise services in the NHS and healthcare more widely.
  • Delivered a focused meeting at the national conference to upskill the profession of the importance of exercise promotion within oncology.

Impact and outcomes

  • Upskilled non-specialist physiotherapists and raised the profile of the work of oncology physiotherapists.
  • There’s now 160 members in the group which shows there is a need.

Future aims

To do more partnership working with other groups and healthcare professions to share skills and influence positive change.

Find out more

You can contact the team by emailing Sarah Dewhurst at: s.dewhurst@nhs.net.

More information on the Living with and Beyond Cancer work at Royal Marsden.

 

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