Cross-sectional study of the provision of interventional oncology services in the UK

Zhong, J., Atiiga, P., Alcorn, D. J., Kay, D., Illing, R., Breen, D. J., Railton, N., McCafferty, I. J., Haslam, P. J. and Wah, T. M. (2017) Cross-sectional study of the provision of interventional oncology services in the UK. BMJ Open, 7(10), e016631. (doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2017-016631) (PMID:29061610) (PMCID:PMC5665310)

Abstract

Objective: To map out the current provision of interventional oncology (IO) services in the UK. Design: Cross-sectional multicentre study. Setting: All National Health Service (NHS) trusts in England and Scottish, Welsh and Northern Ireland health boards. Participants: Interventional radiology (IR) departments in all NHS trusts/health boards in the UK. Results: A total of 179 NHS trusts/health boards were contacted. We received a 100% response rate. Only 19 (11%) institutions had an IO lead. 144 trusts (80%) provided IO services or had a formal pathway of referral in place for patients to a recipient trust. 21 trusts (12%) had plans to provide an IO service or formal referral pathway in the next 12 months only. 14 trusts (8%) did not have a pathway of referral and no plans to implement one. 70 trusts (39%) offered supportive and disease-modifying procedures. One trust had a formal referral pathway for supportive procedures. 73 trusts (41%) provided only supportive procedures (diagnostic or therapeutic). Of these, 43 (59%) had a referral pathway for disease-modifying IO procedures, either from a regional cancer network or through IR networks and 30 trusts (41%) did not have a referral pathway for disease-modifying procedures. Conclusion: The provision of IO services in the UK is promising; however, collaborative networks are necessary to ensure disease-modifying IO procedures are made accessible to all patients and to facilitate larger registry data for research with commissioning of new services.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: AngioDynamics funded the open access publication fee of this study.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Alcorn, Dr Des
• Authors: Zhong, J., Atiiga, P., Alcorn, D. J., Kay, D., Illing, R., Breen, D. J., Railton, N., McCafferty, I. J., Haslam, P. J., and Wah, T. M.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Medicine, Dentistry & Nursing
• Journal Name: BMJ Open
• Publisher: BMJ Publishing Group
• ISSN: 2044-6055
• ISSN (Online): 2044-6055
• Published Online: 22 October 2017
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2017 The Authors
• First Published: First published in BMJ Open 7(10): e016631
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License