Late effects services for adults living with and beyond cancer: a scoping exercise of the current provision in the UK

Many cancer survivors will experience ‘late effects’ or health issues resulting from their cancer treatment. A team from Macmillan Cancer Support conducted a scoping exercise to understand which late effects services are currently delivered in the UK for all adult tumour sites, what they offer for patients and which healthcare professionals lead these services. Over a three-month period, 35 professionals responded to a request for information and follow-up virtual conversations were held with two of them.This scoping exercise found 62 late effects services for adults in the UK and one late effects service for those in the Republic of Ireland. The services were predominantly radiotherapy-specific services and there was only one service which specialised in head and neck cancer late effects. The services were led by therapeutic radiographers (n=20), nurses (n=16) or consultant oncologists (n=6). It is clear that the majority of patients with late effects will not access these specialist services due to the low number of services available. Furthermore, gaps in service provision and funding constraints were identified. The NHS could better address the long-term needs of people living with and beyond cancer by investing further in these services.