Teen cancer patients need specially designed wards

Aug 25 2005

According to an National Health Advisory Body in the UK, most children and teenagers with cancer are treated on adult or paediatric wards.

They say that Cancer services for children and young people must be reformed.

In an attempt to engender a reform, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), has issued guidance to standardise cancer treatment for young people in England and Wales.

The guidelines say that cancer patients under 19 years must be treated in wards with services specially designed for them.

At present children and teenagers are often cared for in adult or paediatric wards, which according to campaigners hinders their recovery.

Currently there are eight specialist cancer units for children and young people, which contain facilities such as computer games, pool tables and internet access, and are staffed by specialist health workers who are linked to NHS hospitals.

The acknowledgement that teenagers and young adults have a right to specialist facilities, will finally bring the health service in line with other walks of life such as education and social care.

The NICE guidance is not demanding that more of such units be built, but calls instead for NHS trusts to provide services tailored towards the needs of adolescents.

The guidance, which was drawn up in conjunction with the National Collaborating Centre for Cancer, says this group of patients should also receive care from staff trained to treat children and young people.

Apparently almost 2,000 children and young people are diagnosed with cancer each year, mainly leukaemias, lymphomas and brain and spinal cancers, and there has been a 50% increase in the last 30 years.

According to Peter Littlejohns, who led the team which compiled the guidance, the distinct needs of young people with cancer have been increasingly recognised over recent years.

Littlejohns says that many young people do not feel comfortable within the paediatric setting, but they have unique needs that may not be addressed within adult services.

Professor Mike Richards, the British Government's National Cancer Director, says the guidance will provide a framework for further development.

Simon Davies, chief executive of the Teenage Cancer Trust, said the guidance represented a "monumental shift in health strategy".