Herefordshire Primary Care Trust - the leader for the NHS in the county - is to host a pilot project aimed at improving services and support for cancer survivors and their carers.
The 3 Counties Cancer Network, which covers Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire, has successfully bid for £200,000 from Macmillan Cancer Support to support the NHS Improvement Initiative. The funds will enable the primary care trusts to undertake projects to support people with active and advanced cancers to improve the supportive care of patients with continuing disease. Patients living with lung, sarcoma, prostate and head and neck cancers were chosen for this pilot work.
The Herefordshire pilot will offer advice and support service in communities as well as a structured programme to help people adjust to living with cancer. The healthcare practitioner for the survivorship project will link with the primary care trust's 'wellbeing coordinators' for a fast track referral to expert social, emotional, psychological and medical support. There will be an annual conference for patients with prostate cancer in the 3 Counties Cancer Network to discuss new treatments.
It is estimated that two million people in the UK have beaten cancer, or have been diagnosed as living with cancer, thanks mainly to early diagnosis, screening and new treatments. But a National Survivorship Initiative, launched last year as part of the Department of Health's Cancer Reform Strategy, highlighted a gap in continuing care for patients who had survived the disease but still faced physical or psychological challenges.
Lead nurses from the 3 Counties Cancer Network submitted a bid, with the endorsement of primary care trusts, to help patients develop coping skills and to feel better about themselves
"It is now recognised that cancer is now a chronic disease for many patients, and even with successful treatments, the disease has a continuing long-term impact on people's lives", said Paul Edwards, director of commissioning and strategy for Herefordshire Primary Care Trust.
"The successful bid will help us to improve further the experience of people living with and beyond cancer and ensuring care is delivered in the most appropriate setting".
In July this year, Herefordshire heard it had been successful in its campaign for a radiotherapy centre to be established in Hereford, which when operational will mean that cancer patients in the county will, in the majority of cases, no longer have to travel to Cheltenham for treatment.