Premium
A 5‐year review of a lympbhoedema service
Author(s) -
WILLIAMS ANGELA E.,
BERGL STEPHEN,
TWYCROSS ROBERT G.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
european journal of cancer care
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.849
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1365-2354
pISSN - 0961-5423
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2354.1996.tb00207.x
Subject(s) - medicine , service (business) , radiation therapy , rest (music) , family medicine , pediatrics , physical therapy , emergency medicine , surgery , economy , economics
Data for 714 patients referred during a 5‐year period to a specialist lymphoedema service in Oxford, UK, have been recorded on a database. The annual number of new patients almost doubled from 103 to 195. In addition to initial assessments, there were over 1000 follow‐up appointments per year. Most patients were seen as out‐patients. Fifty‐six per cent of the referrals were from Oxfordshire and the rest from further afield. The two largest groups referring patients to the service were general practitioners (43%) and the radiotherapy department (26%). Most referrals were female (84%), and the main cause of lymphoedema was cancer and cancer treatments (68%). After 2 years, only 15% of patients were still attending the clinic regularly. The number of patients receiving intensive treatment increased by almost 40%. These findings emphasize the need to target resources and expertise selectively in order to provide an optimal sericice to patients needing specialist help.