Telephone first post-intervention follow-up for men who have had radical radiotherapy to the prostate: Evaluation of a novel service delivery approach

Jane Booker, Anne Eardley, Richard Cowan, John Logue, James Wylie, Ann Louise Caress

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

29 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The increasing prevalence of prostate cancer places pressure on services, leading to questions about how best to configure services, so as to maintain quality and best utilise the skills of the multi-disciplinary team. There have been positive evaluations of specialist nursing roles, nurse-led service provision and telephone consultations, leading us to consider whether telephone follow-up led by a specialist nurse might be an acceptable alternative to traditional follow-up in hospital-based out-patient clinics for patients receiving radical radiotherapy for prostate cancer. Thirty-six men were included in a pilot introduction of telephone follow-up, evaluated via a questionnaire survey. The evaluation explored patients' satisfaction with practical arrangements; satisfaction with the nurse; acceptability of telephone follow-up and acceptability of this being nurse-led. Patients reported high levels of satisfaction with practical arrangements. Thirty-five patients considered the nurse to be knowledgeable and found nurse-led care acceptable. Only one patient was unhappy with telephone follow-up, whilst 27 were "very happy". Only one patient felt that telephone follow-up was poorer than traditional follow-up, whilst 27 found it "as good" and three "better". Particular advantages were reported in terms of convenience and time savings. Telephone follow-up appears to have potential for this patient group and merits wider, research-based consideration.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)325-333
Number of pages9
JournalEuropean Journal of Oncology Nursing
Volume8
Issue number4
Early online date16 Nov 2004
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Dec 2004
Externally publishedYes

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Telephone first post-intervention follow-up for men who have had radical radiotherapy to the prostate: Evaluation of a novel service delivery approach'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this