LJMC plays key role in new project
The NHS Service Improvement initiative has taken on the task of implementing elements of the Cancer Reform Strategy launched by national cancer tsar, Professor Mike Richards. A key part of this strategy focuses on ‘survivorship’, an area in which the LJMC has considerable expertise.
Drawing on the positive approach of the Lance Armstrong Foundation, survivorship is often defined as starting with diagnosis.
The Cancer Reform Strategy highlights the need to enable patients to carry on with their lives both during and following treatment – however long that may be.
Over the years, the LJMC has done considerable work in looking at some of the practical problems and issues faced by patients and carers.
Our Supportive Oncology Research Team conducted a major project just a couple of years ago using a ‘speed-dating’ technique to give service users a chance to talk to many different people about their experiences.
The collation of these results high-lighted many possible solutions but, as always, funding was a restricting factor in implementing them.
The opportunity to put in a bid to be a test site for the development of service improvements was greeted with enthusiasm throughout the Mount Vernon Cancer Centre and particularly at the LJMC.
One of the most exciting aspects of this whole initiative is the opportunity to share best practice more widely.
As well as improving patients’ experiences of being a survivor, it is hoped that many of the projects will show significant savings and benefits.
Successful solutions may be adopted by the NHS and implemented on a national basis. The potential future of these projects is enormous and the LJMC team is immensely proud to be a part of this initiative.
Some elements of the project are already coming off the drawing board:
Development of support group
Clinical nurse specialist, Sandra Jackson, has been running a support group at the LJMC for head and neck cancer patients for a while. She will be developing this work with a self-help programme aimed at promoting and improving the quality of patients’ lives through the adaptation to side effects.
Getting to the end of treatment
The end of treatment can be a confusing time for patients and carers alike and we’ll be looking at how this important aspect of care can be improved. This will include strengthening communication with GPs and the information that is provided to them and to patients.
One of the expected outcomes is that the LJMC will play an even greater role in offering support and information to patients when questions arise between clinic appointments. Watch this space for news of how our patient services develop to meet the changing needs and demands.
Benefits awareness
Recent research has shown that financial worries are a real concern for patients and that many people are unaware of benefits to which they may be entitled.
We have already been working with Macmillan Cancer Support to run an e-learning programme to train healthcare professionals in benefits awareness and will be developing this as part of the project.
We’ll be training more facilitators and thus more staff to help patients with this important service.
Last updated: 23 July, 2009
Published October 2008