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Treatment Support Centre Innovation

• First project set up jointly by an NHS cancer treatment centre and a charity to provide lifestyle, self-help and complementary support
• Specifically for people receiving NHS cancer treatments.
• Multidisciplinary team including oncologists, cancer nurses, psychologists, nutritional therapists, physical activity facilitators and an integrative doctor.

Problem

• Oncologists are wary of patients making unsupervised lifestyle changes or accessing complementary support during active treatment, fearing interactions or adverse events
• Patients who want to play a role in their own health-maintenance and recovery feel unsupported, confused and disempowered.

Challenges

• Users at different stages of cancer journey with differing needs
• Regular attendance limited by hospital appointments

What is working well?

• High attendance
• Increasing numbers of referrals direct from NHS
• More diverse patient groups accessing service
• More NHS staff awareness and support
• Excellent user feedback
• Promising early pilot evaluation results (MYCAW)
• Record sharing with NHS

Areas for development

• Better communication with NHS, especially reports back with outcomes of involvement in self-care
• Focused data collection and outcomes evaluation (?physiological measures ?health economics)
• To ensure the clinic is more widely accessible and adapted for harder-to-reach groups