Non-medical prescribing of systemic anticancer therapy in a multidisciplinary team oncology clinic

Abstract

The number of people diagnosed and living with cancer in the UK continues to rise, placing increasing demands on specialist cancer care services. The incidence and prevalence of neuroendocrine tumours (NETs) has increased. An NET remains a rare cancer requiring specialist care and the clinical nurse specialist (CNS) team is ideally placed to support these patients. Oncology clinics are becoming increasingly pressured and the need to think of innovative ways of reducing pressure while maintaining and enhancing the patient's experience is important. A new multidisciplinary team (MDT) systemic anti-cancer therapy (SACT) clinic for NET patients was developed that incorporated a CNS SACT non-medical prescriber (NMP) to improve patient experience and reduce the number of oncologist clinic reviews. Methods and analysis: the clinic was designed and a protocol developed to help ensure safe practice and support for the CNS NMP. The patient experience was prioritised and the medical team was involved in the design. All NMP SACT prescriptions were reviewed and questionnaires were given to patients after 3 months. A questionnaire was also given to all oncologists within the clinic and to the oncology pharmacist for analysis. Findings: 29 SACT NMP prescriptions for 15 patients were written. Patient and medical colleague feedback was positive. Discussion: this experience has helped to highlight the positive impact of innovative clinics that combine the expertise of both independent nurse practitioners and the medical team. This has paved the way for further clinics of this kind within the author's trust and the NET service.