- Does your Trust you have specialist clinics for patients who have had treatment for cervical cancer and are experiencing the late effects of pelvic radiotherapy, e.g. bowel or urinary issues (also known as pelvic radiation disease or PRD)?
- If so, please give details of:
i. The clinic(s) name and opening times
ii. Annual caseload
iii. The proportion of patients referred direct from oncology
iv. The proportion of patients referred from their GP
A) There are no formal clinics although there is a network of Clinicians that we use for providing support.
- Does your oncology team have a standardised method of identifying people with PRD for referral (e.g. by asking patients the questions in the ALERT-B tool to support the clinical assessment of patients suitable for referral to a gastroenterologist)?
A) Patients aren’t formally assessed by a tool however, their side effect profile is systematically assessed each time they come with specific reference to bowel and bladder function, pelvic pain, lymphoedema, sexual function and menopausal function in each consultation. Appropriate referrals are made when patients require support both from physical, psychological and psychosexual perspective.
- Does your radiotherapy centre ensure patients are aware of possible acute and long-term side effects of pelvic radiotherapy before they undergo treatment? If so, how?
A) Yes, the patients receive an informed consent leaflet usually accompanied by information from MacMillan including side effects of the radiotherapy, of chemotherapy, acute and late changes in sexual function, use of a vaginal dilator along with information describing how the radiotherapy process is undertaken, including the use of enemas and bladder filling to optimise bladder filling during treatment to reduce the margins necessary in radiotherapy.
- Does your radiotherapy centre offer a range of materials to support with acute or late effects of radiotherapy, e.g. booklets, symptom checklist, toilet cards? If so, what materials do you provide?
A) Yes which include booklets. The booklets tend to be delivered in the local areas rather than in the radiotherapy centre. The patients are followed up locally.
- Do your gastroenterologists and dieticians use the PRD bowel algorithm, published in ‘The Practical Management of the Gastrointestinal Symptoms of Pelvic Radiation Disease’? https://www.macmillan.org.uk/_images/practical-management-gi-symptoms-pelvic-radiation-disease_tcm9-300557.pdf
A) Dietetic advice is frequently referred to as part of the review process and MacMillan information leaflets are given.
