The impact of a new acute oncology service in acute hospitals: experience from the Clatterbridge Cancer Centre and Merseyside and Cheshire Cancer Network.

The 2008 National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcomes and Death highlighted an urgent need to improve the quality, safety and efficiency of care for cancer patients following emergency presentation to acute general hospitals. A network-wide acute oncology service (AOS) was therefore commissioned and implemented on the basis of recommendations from the National Chemotherapy Advisory Group (NCAG). Through a continuous programme of raising awareness regarding both the role of the AOS and the necessity of early patient referral to acute oncology teams, we have been able to establish an AOS across all acute trusts in our cancer network. The network-wide AOS has improved communication across clinical teams, enabled rapid review of over 3,000 patients by oncology staff, reduced hospital stay, increased understanding of oncology emergencies and their treatment, and enhanced pathways for rapid diagnosis and appropriate referrals for patients presenting with malignancy of undefined origin (MUO). These achievements have been made by developing a network protocol book for managing common oncology emergencies, by introducing local pathways for managing MUO and by collaborating with palliative care teams to introduce local acute oncology (AO) multi-disciplinary team (MDT) meetings.