Acute medical and specialty support at a tertiary cancer centre: a collaboration to achieve high-quality care for acutely unwell patients with cancer

Abstract

There is increasing recognition of the need for collaboration between oncologists, acute physicians and specialists to improve the quality of care and outcomes of acutely unwell patients with cancer. At The Christie, a tertiary oncology hospital, a model has been developed to deliver acute medical and specialty support services. This delivers, among many things, a consultant-led acute medical ward round on weekdays. There has been a signifi cant increase in the number of patients admitted to the oncology assessment unit (OAU) since its introduction, in part due to an increased number of direct discharges from the unit. Collaborative working between oncologists and acute physicians with a shared vision for highquality care for patients has ensured that this change has been implemented smoothly. This has included development of patient fl ow models to optimise bed usage, so that a higher number of patients can access these specialist services.

Harnessing the power of digital data: so obvious, but increasingly obviously not straightforward

“…As editor-in-chief of both the FHJ and Clinical Medicine, my focus is on getting the best for our patients, 'blending' the benefits of specialist driven care and processes with the general medical reality and requirements we all face at the front line. This issue addresses this directly in oncology patients 1 and through a couple of excellent papers on 'care bundles'. Pioneered in sepsis in the ICU setting, care bundles are increasingly ubiquitous in all areas of medicine.…”