BMJ 1995;311:1574-1575 (9 December)

Letters

Patients prefer hospital follow up for cancer

EDITOR,--The response to John Dewar's call for a reappraisal of follow up care for patients with breast cancer1 shows the gap between patients' and general practitioners' views on this topic. While Eva Grunfeld and colleagues report general practitioners' preference for a system of follow up in general practice,2 qualitative data from patients show their preference for hospital follow up, which is perceived as the "best defence against a recurrence of their cancer."3

Our failure to discharge long term survivors of cancer from the oncology clinic led to a programme of planned discharge, during which we sought patients' views on important components of care in general practice, specifically in relation to patients with cancer. Thirty nine patients who had agreed to be discharged were interviewed four months later and completed a questionnaire. In parallel, 38 registrars in general practice attending courses at Michael Sobell House, Mount Vernon Hospital, were polled with . . . [Full text of this article]


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Relevant Article

Follow up in breast cancer
John Dewar
BMJ 1995 310: 685-686. [Extract] [Full Text]

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