Implementing patient: Reported outcomes in a medical oncology setting

This program of research implemented routine symptom self-reporting for oncology patients. Before this program of work, standardised reporting of symptoms had been reported in the research setting as promising to improve quality of life and survival. However it was unknown if this could also be done in the very complex setting of routine cancer care. Doctors, nurses, allied health professionals and patients were interviewed and surveyed to make this intervention useful and usable. The study team facilitated successful integration of this intervention into the allocated clinics, which improved how the healthcare teams addressed patients’ symptoms.