The NIHR has issued £835,000 to researchers at universities in Lancaster and Bangor to help identify how health services can support patients considering radiotherapy treatment for gynaecological cancer.
Funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), the project will run until 2027. It will act as a follow-on project from the Gynae Narratives project, which was led by Dr Lisa Ashmore, joint lead researcher at Lancaster Medical School and funded by North West Cancer Research.
Patients and staff from Lancaster Teaching Hospitals, South Tees Hospitals and the Christie Hospital will form part of the project's team.
The universities at the helm of the project will focus on different aspects of the research. The team at Lancaster University - including Dr Hilary Stewart and Dr Laura Wareing - will study patients' experiences and co-develop policies to bolster the process of giving consent.
Dr Ashmore said it is imperative that patients are fully aware of what they are consenting too when they agree to radiotherapy treatment.
“We currently have a situation where people are looking back on their decision to consent to treatment and are thinking that they were unprepared for the impacts on life that lay ahead," she explained. "Changing this will mean people know what they are saying yes to and can better prepare for the future.”
Patients must be informed
As well as working with patients, the Lancaster team will also collaborate with Radiotherapy UK, its charity partner, to facilitate events across the UK to raise awareness of radiotherapy and gynaecological cancers.
Meanwhile, the team at the University of Bangor will use insights gained from Health Economics expertise to study how people that have had radiotherapy treatment weigh up the risks and benefits.
"Making treatment decisions can be difficult," said Dr Emily Holmes of the University of Bangor. "It is important that people understand the benefits and risks. Knowing what it has been like for other people may help."
"We will generate new evidence on acceptable risks of long-term side-effects in exchange for treatment benefits. This will provide valuable information on the relative importance of outcomes for consideration during the consent process.”
The NIHR is funded by the Department of Health and Social Care and supports research to help improve health in the UK and globally.
It works in partnership with the NHS, universities, local government, other research funders, as well as patients and the public to deliver research projects.