A survey of patients with prostate cancer attitudes concerning being cared for closer to home

Abstract

Recent guidance recommends that men with prostate cancer on watchful waiting and men who have a stable prostate specific antigen, with no significant complications at least 2 years following treatment, should be offered follow‐up outside hospital. The study presented here represents the views of 442 men in the North East of England who fall into this group. It shows that 70·7% of the men surveyed preferred to be followed up at their local district general hospital, compared to 18·1% preferring to be followed up at their general practitioner (GP) practice. Almost 63·8% of patients in this study preferred to be followed up by the nurse specialist in comparison with 23·9% of patients preferring to be reviewed by a consultant and 9·4% choosing their GP. Patients who live in rural areas with a long journey time to the hospital were more likely to choose to be followed up by their GP. There has been no preparation of patients to change their expectations of lifelong follow‐up in secondary care. Patient survivorship information needs to be developed, so that patients are prepared and supported through this change in follow‐up care. This survey demonstrates that the patients within this particular National Health Service (NHS) Trust are happy with the current system of being followed up by the nurse specialist at their local district general hospital.