Medical & Surgical Review Programme: Cancer in Children, Teens and Young Adults Report

Cancer outcomes in children and young people have improved dramatically over the last few decades with over 80% of those diagnosed now being cured of their disease. Of those who die, approximately half will do so from treatment related complications many of which are avoidable.

This report deliberately focuses on a sample of patients who were a high-risk group who died or who had an unexpected admission to intensive care. The rationale being that this is where care-planning, service provision and communication should excel. Any remediable factors in care for this group would benefit all children, teenagers and young adults receiving SACT.

One of the recommendations from this report is that the audit and quality improvement methods, with action plans, are essential for on-going improvement but require access to data. Electronic prescribing was not universal at the time of data collection and many hospitals had no ready access to information on which patients had received SACT and their outcomes. Along with adequately trained staff, good team working and clear local leadership, such implementations are key drivers for improving care for this vulnerable population.