We aim to make your care personalised to you. We do this by addressing your needs and concerns. This starts from the day of your diagnosis. It continues throughout your treatment and beyond.

This animation below explains personalised care in more detail:

It’s important you talk to us about anything that worries and concerns you.  We can then support you to get the help you need with the right professional.  This happens in several ways:

Holistic needs assessment

A cancer diagnosis can affect many aspects of your life.   A Holistic Needs Assessment (HNA) is one way of identifying your concerns and what is important to you but also can help the health care professionals, involved in your care, understand this too.

Cancer care review

The cancer care review (CCR) is a conversation between a patient and their GP or practice nurse about their cancer journey. It is essential to personalised care and it is an opportunity for patients to:

  • Talk about their cancer experience and concerns.
  • Understand what support is available in their community.
  • Receive the information they need to begin supported self-management.
End of treatment summary

This is a discussion between you and your clinical nurse specialist. It takes place as your treatment is coming to an end. You will discuss your follow-up care.

After your treatment for cancer, you may still experience side effects.

Side effects usually go away after treatment ends. However, some may take weeks or months to improve. In some cases, certain side effects can become permanent. Some side effects can develop months or even years after treatment ends. These are called late effects of treatment.

Your cancer team will talk to you about the risks of any late effects of your treatment. They will tell you what signs and symptoms to look out for. They will tell you what you can do to reduce that risk.

It is important to talk to your cancer team (or GP) about any side effects. This applies no matter how long it is since your treatment ended.

Late effects to treatment can include:

  • Swelling (lymphoedema)
  • Effects on the heart and lungs
  • Effects in the bones
  • Effects on the head and neck
  • Effects on the bowel and bladder
  • Secondary cancer      
  • Sex and fertility

To find out more, visit:

www.macmillan.org.uk/cancer-information-and-support/after-treatment/late-effects-of-treatment or 

Information for patients about late effects of radiotherapy to the pelvic area is available at www.prda.org.uk

For patients with these effects, there is a free 'out and about’ toolkit. This has useful information, tips and items to help you have more confidence when leaving the house. Visit www.prda.org.uk/out-and-about-toolkit/

Cancer information and support