iCARE leading co-designed care
An innovative study aimed at improving cancer patient care is has now moved into its next phase.
ICARE (Innovation in Cancer Care for and with patients) has spoken to around 200 patient and staff at the Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre, seeking their experiences and views in a bid to help patients co-design service provision.
The survey asked what people felt were priorities for innovation in cancer care and where problems exist that could be addressed by innovation.
Possibly the most interesting discovery for clinicians is that patients are more concerned with the length of wait during hospital appointments rather than the wait in receiving an appointment.
Another recurring theme amongst patients was a demand for peer-to-peer support within the patient cohort as well as support for families and carers.
Patients completing the survey showed a clear need for more effective communication between different branches of the treatment pathways.
iCARE showcased the value of patients sharing their lived experience, and the impact this could have in designing a more empathic and streamlined cancer care pathway.
Researchers and clinicians are studying the responses to inform future development.
One patient, who has been treated by the Beatson WoSCC for the past four years, told the study that his treatment had been “a caring and compassionate experience for me.”
He added: “I am very grateful for the treatment I received just over four years now from diagnosis, giving me not only extra time to spend with family but to even live a normal life, and very grateful. But resources in innovation must step up a gear for others to receive what I have received, given current times and limited resources.”
Beatson WoSCC Clinical Director for Specialist Oncology Services Dr Ioanna Nixon, who is leading iCARE, said: “Listening to our patients and understanding what matters to them will enable us to improve their cancer journey; from diagnosis, treatment, to follow up and onto survivorship. In this process, patients and families are partners, and we are their allies”.
“We always seek to take onboard the views of patients and this next phase of ICARE will allow us to shape new ways of supporting our patients.”