University Hospitals Tees is introducing a new ‘prehabilitation’ service to prepare people with cancer for treatment.
Patients are referred into the service upon receiving a cancer diagnosis. It supports those with cancer to get as fit and healthy as possible to help them cope with the physical and emotional tolls of treatment, reduce side effects and improve their recovery outcomes.
The new prehabilitation service has been launched collaboratively by North Tees and Hartlepool and South Tees Hospitals NHS foundation trusts. The project has been funded by the Northern Cancer Alliance. The service will form part of patients’ personalised care plans and will be supported by cancer nurse specialists and cancer care coordinators across both trusts.
It is led by Chloé McMurray, personalised cancer care prehabilitation lead at South Tees Hospitals who has a background in cancer nutrition, and Tom Wing, cancer prehabilitation lead at North Tees and Hartlepool who has a background in physiotherapy, strength and conditioning and physical activity promotion.
Chloé, an award-winning specialist dietitian, said: “The aim of prehabilitation is to capture patients as soon after diagnosis as possible and optimise them nutritionally, physically and emotionally before they start treatment – whether that’s surgery, chemotherapy or radiotherapy.
“We know that that the benefits of prehabilitation can be seen in as little as two weeks which can make big differences before, during and after treatment.
“As well as having massive benefits to individual patients, we’re also hoping to see a positive snowball effect. By being as fit as possible, patients are reducing their length of stay in hospital after surgery and treatment, freeing up beds for more patients to be seen which will reduce waiting times – and ultimately incurring cost savings for the NHS.”
Shaping the service
Chloé and Tom have collaborated with patients and cancer specialists to pilot a co-designed virtual ‘cancer prehabilitation school’ and subsequent programme of support which underpins NHS England’s long term plan and ambitions for cancer.
The service will focus on five key pillars of prehabilitation to improve cancer patients’ health:
- Physical activity
- Nutrition
- Psychological and mental wellbeing
- Smoking
- Alcohol and substance misuse
The first component, the ‘cancer prehabilitation school’, is set to launch this May for patients under the care of either trust. Launched initially as a pilot project, the school will offer a one-off digital session to:
- Learn about the importance of prehabilitation
- Gain tips and resources to implement the five key pillars
- Find out about support services, such as tobacco dependency services
Following this session, patients will enter a prehabilitation pathway suitable for their needs and personalised care plan. This means that interventions and services may differ from person-to-person.
One such intervention is the option to opt in to take part in exercise classes. Both trusts are working closely with community gyms and local sporting facilities to bring this provision close to patients’ homes.
Tom said: “Research shows that prehabilitation is improving cancer-related outcomes and reducing the likelihood of adverse side effects during and after cancer treatment. We also hope this generates lasting lifestyle changes for patients moving forward.
“We very much want this service to be part of our cancer pathways and patients’ journeys. This isn’t an extra – it’s part of our patients’ treatment plans. But we’re trying to implement it out in the community as much as possible with the hope that people carry on with these changes after treatment, helping them to not only live longer but also live better for longer, no matter where they are in their cancer journey.”
More information about cancer prehabilitation