Why are late effects services so thin on the ground and little known?

[Warham]

I help to run an online support group for people living with anal cancer. As we all have had pelvic radiotherapy, late effects of treatment are a frequent issue for discussion. A week or so ago a member was talking about the terrible late effects she has suffered from for about a year. I found the very helpful resource on this site listing clinics and services. There is a clinic only 3 miles from where she lives but neither her treating hospital nor her GP had referred her to it. What can we do to make these services better known AND how can we encourage more provision?

[Sarah_PRDA Partner]

Hello Warham ,

There is, unfortunately, a lack of awareness of late effects/PRD amongst health professionals which in turn means that primary and secondary care services don't always know that such service exist. This is one of the reasons we created the map in order to help people find their nearest service.

You are more than welcome signpost your support group users to our website and resources, we would be happy to help.

There is currently no national standard of care for PRD and decisions around service provision are made locally by Integrated Care Boards (the new statutory NHS organisations responsible for developing a plan for meeting the health needs of the population, managing the NHS budget and arranging for the provision of health services in a geographical area).

For anyone wanting to see the UK Services for people with late effects of radiotherapy you can find the details on our website: prda.org.uk/late-effects-se...

Best wishes

Sarah