Late effects and special interest group Somerset
Blog
Published:
12 October 2021
In this blog, Dr Lisa Durrant talks us through how her team worked to improve the service for patients experiencing late effects from radiotherapy.
The problems
- Previously there were information and support groups for radiographers seeing people during treatment, but nothing for post treatment.
- Patients were bouncing between primary and secondary care having pointless tests and getting no diagnosis.
- Allied Health Professional roles were quite isolated and there was minimal guidance and protocols.
The initiative
This initiative was split into 2 areas to assist patients as well as Allied Healthcare Professionals.
- Late effects service – this was originally funded by Macmillan, set up to support patients manage their symptoms post treatment. The aim was to improve the service.
- Chairs special interest group - gives healthcare professionals working in post radiotherapy treatment a support network. Allied Health Professionals can share experiences and discuss setting up similar services in their area.
What we did
Late effects service
- Helped patients to manage symptoms and access services that they wouldn’t normally be able to access.
- Questionnaires about bowel symptoms were taken at the start and end of treatment.
Special interest group
- Professionals networked and shared information.
Impact and outcomes
Late effects service
- Patients aren’t having to repeat their story every time.
- Symptoms are managed and unnecessary appointments are prevented.
- Improved quality of life for patients.
Special interest group
- The special interest group has now grown to 100 people.
- Knowledge sharing has allowed professionals to improve on care and patient outcomes.
Future aims
- To gather more data once the regional service has been set up.
- Radiographer in each centre will develop a proper post treatment service which started in September 2022.
Find out more
You can contact the team by emailing Lisa Durrant at Lisa.Durrant@SomersetFT.nhs.uk.
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