The Patient Concerns Inventory integrated as part of routine head and neck cancer follow-up consultations: frequency, case-mix, and items initiated by the patient

NICE Improving Supportive and Palliative Care for Adults with Cancer (2004) and the Cancer Reform Strategy (2007) supports the premise that assessment and discussion of patients’ needs for physical, social, psychological, and spiritual wellbeing should be undertaken during oncology follow-up. The aim of this paper is to report the use of the PCI in a routine clinic setting over a 7-year period, summarising the number of available clinics, the number of patients completing the PCI within a clinic, the range of clinical characteristics and the PCI concerns they wanted to discuss. Methods: The PCI data was analysed from oncology follow-up clinics between 1st August 2007 and 10th December 2014. Audit approval was given by the Clinical Audit Department, University Hospital Aintree. Results: There were 386 patients with 1198 PCIs completed. at 220 clinics, median 6 (4-7) per clinic. The commonest concerns raised by the patients across all the clinic consultations were dry mouth (34%), fear of recurrence (33%), sore mouth (26%), dental health (25%), chewing (22%) and fatigue/tiredness (21%). Conclusion: The incorporation of the PCI as part of routine oncology clinics allows for a more patient initiated and focused consultation available to the majority of patients throughout their follow-up. The PCI allows for greater opportunity to provide holistic targeted multi-professional intervention and support.