Specialist Neuro-Oncology Community Therapy Services: Addressing Inequalities and Gaps in Service Provision

Current specialist allied health profession (AHP) provision within Velindre Cancer Centre is limited to the inpatient setting for acute medical needs and an outpatient service which focuses on functional difficulties.  Unfortunately, many patients who have a primary brain tumour diagnosis have multiple, complex needs that can change quickly and significantly.  This can limit their ability to travel, especially as their condition inevitably deteriorates.

Current provision in Local Health Boards is limited, with inequitable services and long waiting lists for therapists that may not have knowledge and skills in this specialist area of practice.  This can impact patients ability to maintain independence, increases the possibility of hospital admissions and ultimately lead to poor quality of life.

This project aims to:

• evaluate the current community OT and physiotherapy provision in community services in South-East Wales
• establish the views of patients and their families of current services
• engage with neuro-oncology professionals to investigate their experiences of referring to community teams.

A pilot project will then be implemented where OT and Physiotherapy from Velindre can provide timely assessment and specialist interventions which will measure functional benefits and the impact on quality of life of both patients and families.

It is anticipated that this project will address the complex, fast changing needs of neuro-oncology patients within their home environment.  This will support avoiding admission by managing functional needs in the patients home environment and enable the right support to be in place as needs change.  It will bridge the gap between therapies within the clinical environment during treatment and proceeding to palliative care teams or hospital admissions.  It will also aim to improve the quality of life of both patients and their care-givers / families as they deal with the unpredictable pattern of deterioration that is caused by both their diagnosis and of their treatment.