Cancer and Supportive Therapies Team

The Cancer and Supportive Therapies Team are community based specialised practitioners, including non-medical prescribers, responsible for the provision of varying supportive and therapeutic treatments for oncology or haematology patients closer to home.

The team aims to provide emotional support to patients and their carers and/or family and can be contacted throughout their treatment pathway for advice as required.

The team can provide information with regards to specialised treatments and management of symptoms or side effects and as adopted Macmillan Cancer Care Professionals they have access to the information and support available for practical or financial issues.

The service is nurse led and provides community clinics in five locations across Stoke-on-Trent and North Staffordshire.

The services provided by the team include:

• Prescribing and administration of supportive treatments
• Venesection
• Phlebotomy and blood result monitoring
• Patient assessment and clinical decision making
• Identifying patient needs
• Educational and emotional support for patients and families
• Support and management of side effects of chemotherapy/radiotherapy
• Sign posting to relevant services
• Coordination of care with community and acute care providers
• Teaching and support to community colleagues
• Identify when a patient may require escalation to the acute trust for further intervention or provide advice to reduce inappropriate admissions

The service works closely with a variety of other local NHS cancer and support services including voluntary agencies/hospices to achieve the highest quality outcomes for patients and their families.