Development of a digital pre-assessment pathway for patients starting systemic anticancer therapy
Intended for healthcare professionals
Evidence and practice    

Development of a digital pre-assessment pathway for patients starting systemic anticancer therapy

Amelia Weston SACT clinical nurse specialist, University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, Southampton, Hampshire, England

Why you should read this article:
  • To understand the clinical reasons for pre-treatment assessment of patients undergoing systemic anticancer therapy (SACT)

  • To appreciate the benefits of a digital SACT pre-assessment pathway for cancer patients

  • To familiarise yourself with the challenges of providing a digital service

During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic measures have been implemented in healthcare systems to reduce transmission of the infection. People with cancer are immunocompromised and at higher risk of contracting infections, therefore many cancer services have been conducting routine reviews and pre-treatment assessments remotely through telephone and video consultations during the pandemic. Patients who are to receive systemic anticancer therapy (SACT) should have an additional consultation to provide them with specific information about the therapy, including side effects and who to contact for advice if they develop these at home. This article describes the development and implementation of a digital SACT pre-assessment pathway in a large university hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic, which aimed to deliver information to groups of patients remotely. The article explores the challenges to implementation and discusses some of the findings of a patient feedback survey, which suggest that the digital SACT pre-assessment sessions have been successful overall.

Cancer Nursing Practice. doi: 10.7748/cnp.2022.e1814

Peer review

This article has been subject to external double-blind peer review and checked for plagiarism using automated software

Correspondence

amelia.weston@uhs.nhs.uk

Conflict of interest

None declared

Weston A (2022) Development of a digital pre-assessment pathway for patients starting systemic anticancer therapy. Cancer Nursing Practice. doi: 10.7748/cnp.2022.e1814

Published online: 14 April 2022

Want to read more?

RCNi-Plus
Already have access? Log in

or

3-month trial offer for £5.25/month

Subscribe today and save 50% on your first three months
RCNi Plus users have full access to the following benefits:
  • Unlimited access to all 10 RCNi Journals
  • RCNi Learning featuring over 175 modules to easily earn CPD time
  • NMC-compliant RCNi Revalidation Portfolio to stay on track with your progress
  • Personalised newsletters tailored to your interests
  • A customisable dashboard with over 200 topics
Subscribe

Alternatively, you can purchase access to this article for the next seven days. Buy now


Are you a student? Our student subscription has content especially for you.
Find out more