Cancer pre-treatment information shortlisted for Lincolnshire Care Awards

Kate Taft, SACT Lead Clinical Nurse Specialist at United Lincolnshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (ULTH), was the driving force behind the “Cancer Care: Understanding Your Treatment” video, which has been shortlisted in the Co-producing Together category.

The co-production award recognises teams, services, or providers that can demonstrate effective collaboration between clinical teams and patients or carers to achieve the best outcomes for all.

It rewards those who show a real change developed with people through valuing their input and insights from the start.

Part of Kate’s role is to improve patient experience and together with the treatment team, she recognised that before cancer treatment starts, patients receive a lot of information about the drugs, the treatment itself, and possible side effects. However, it may be difficult to take it all in at once during a highly emotional time.

Kate said: “We wanted a tool to support our nurses in sharing the very important information with patients before their treatment starts, and something for patients to read at their own pace after they had the pre-treatment discussion with our staff.

“So, we developed a set of slides, but I was very keen on input from people who have lived experience of cancer diagnosis and treatment. That’s why I brought it to the Cancer Co-production Group that is run by Every-One.

“Because we wanted to include feedback from patients who have lived experience of living with cancer, it took us much longer to get the pack finalised and published.

“However, I think it's been absolutely worth involving the Co-production Group. They fully understand what it's like to come into our services and be on the receiving end of these treatments.

“They've used their first-hand experience to help shape this information and make it understandable to the general public, which in turn will help future patients. Involving experts by experience added enormous value to the information video and pack.

“Although my nomination has been put forward as an individual award, it's not an individual achievement or piece of work. It was very much a team effort from my colleagues in cancer services and the Cancer Co-production Group. I am thrilled to be shortlisted, though, and perhaps that shows that we did go above and beyond to make sure our information for cancer patients is relevant and meets their needs.”

The awards evening, led by the Lincolnshire Care Association, is due to take place on Thursday, March 27.