Cancer care at the front door: new RCP report on acute oncology services in Wales
Here is the report by the RCP in Wales which calls for investment in emergency cancer care at the front door.
Key messages
Drawing on the experiences of patients, doctors, nurses and therapists from around Wales, the RCP is calling on all health boards to invest in acute oncology services (AOS) and ambulatory (same day) care which can improve patient experience and medical outcomes, reduce hospital length of stay, and keep people at home for longer. This new report, endorsed by the Society for Acute Medicine, finds that many cancer patients will, at some point in their illness, need specialist emergency cancer care in their local hospital A&E. However, there is an unplanned and unmet need for AOS at the hospital front door across much of Wales, which means that cancer patients can have a very poor experience in a crisis. An acute cancer admission can mean that a patient’s condition is getting worse, but early review and rapid assessment by the right team can lead to quicker discharge and help to avoid readmission. This can drastically improve the experience of patients and their families during an emergency. Wherever a patient lives in Wales, they should be able to access high quality, supportive and patient-centred AOS. All health boards should produce local plans that include:
- long-term investment in more specialist staff to ensure cross-cover and a sustainable, resilient service
- protected time for service provision and education
- a multidisciplinary team approach across primary care, acute medicine, palliative care and oncology
- closer regional collaboration
- a focus on reducing health inequalities.
