Since July 2015 Macmillan breast care nurses (BCNs) at Christie NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester have specialised in the care of patients with secondary breast cancer. The service had previously managed patients with primary and secondary breast cancer, but had become unsustainable due to staffing levels and increasing numbers of patients. This article describes how the Christie Macmillan BCNs changed the focus and delivery of their service. It examines the literature on the urgent needs of patients with secondary breast cancer, outlines the background to, and rationale for the new service, describes how patients who are receiving primary chemotherapy are signposted to other services for support, and describes the redesign and development process of the new service.
Cancer Nursing Practice. 16, 4, 27-32. doi: 10.7748/cnp.2017.e1411
Correspondence Peer reviewThis article has been subject to external double-blind peer review and checked for plagiarism using automated software
Conflict of interestNone declared
Received: 22 February 2017
Accepted: 07 March 2017
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