End Of Treatmen
t Summaries
The End of Treatment Summary is a clinical summary of diagnosis, staging and cancer treatment received by a patient and indicates any ongoing clinical needs or potential side effects from treatment along with any psychological, social, financial and social prescribing support offered to the patient during treatment.
It should be completed within four to six weeks at the end of every period of cancer treatment (surgery/ chemotherapy/radiotherapy/other treatment). It is shared with primary care to assist them to continue to support the patient once treatment has ended, and also to the patient to assist and support them to self-manage their current health condition, side effects from treatment and have an awareness of signs of recurrence.
It gives clear “red flag” information for the patient to access the specialist clinical team should they have any signs or symptoms of recurrence or worsening symptoms from side effects of treatment. It also gives the GP the necessary information to carry out an effective Cancer Care Review and manage the patient’s care in the community, thus avoiding unnecessary referral back to the specialist team.
According to national guidance (Innovation to Implementation: Stratified Pathways of care for people living with or beyond cancer, NHS England) each End of Treatment Summary should contain the following key elements:
Diagnosis
Date of diagnosis
Tumour staging
Summary of treatment & relevant dates
Treatment aim (curative/palliative/symptom relief)
Possible treatment toxicities/late effects
Alert “ Red Flag” symptoms that require referral back to the specialist team
Contact/re-referral point for re-access
Details of other referrals made
Ongoing management at the Trust
Stratified surveillance pathway choice
Actions required by GP
Relevant read codes for GP
Summary of information given to patient
Additional information re lifestyle and support needs for people living with cancer
The Cancer Alliance Living With and Beyond Cancer team is working with clinical teams, through hands on practical support and also through site specific Optimal Pathway Groups, to develop standardised End of Treatment Summaries and share learning across West Yorkshire and Harrogate.
Lead Cancer Nurses have developed a set of 'gold standard' principles which all End of Treatment Summaries must meet to ensure a degree of standardisation and quality across teams. Read the document here
