UKONS ACUTE ONCOLOGY INITIAL MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES
Guidelines for the initial management of adult patients who have a cancer diagnosis, and present as an emergency or unplanned admission with a complication of their disease or cancer treatment.
A web-based version of these guidelines can also be accessed here.
These guidelines relate to the initial assessment and immediate management of Acute Oncology patients, i.e. patients presenting with an acute problem, demonstrating symptoms deemed as having been caused by:
- Systemic Anti-Cancer Therapy (SACT)
- Radiotherapy
- Malignant disease
- A previously undiagnosed cancer where an urgent oncology/haematology assessment is required
It is emphasised that these guidelines focus on initial assessment at presentation and management for the first 24 hours. Patients should be referred to, or discussed with the Acute Oncology Team as soon as possible following presentation. The Acute Oncology team will provide further advice and on-going management guidance.
Intended Audience
These guidelines are intended for use by all health care professionals who assess and/or manage acute oncology patients at presentation. The guidelines may also be useful as an adjunct to the UKONS Triage tool when providing care advice following telephone triage (Appendix 1, P.56).
They are mostly single-page “see-and-treat” guides.