Future care for long-term cancer survivors: towards a new model

In Australia, the expanding role of the GP and primary care across the cancer continuum is well established; especially in cancer survivorship. This new paper from Spain explored what information would allow the optimisastion of the current Spanish model of health management in order to turn it into a model that is efficient for the care of long term cancer survivors. Using a Delphi approach that incuded consultation with primary care representatives, the study found that there was unanimous desire to improve the communication and cooperation between primary care and hospital settings. Of the strategies proposed to improve this coordination of care only collaboration between medical oncology and primary care was considered feasible by consensus (84%). While the study outlined that primary care should become the cornerstone for the clinical management of long term cancer survivors, the feasability to achieve this progression over the next decade was questioned due to the current fragmentation in Spain’s health system. Overall, there is a need for specific ongoing training for professionals involved in the care of cancer survivors, including in primary care. Research in this area is important, especially to address cost-effectiveness of interventions and quality of life, but the authors outline that a lack of resources will pose a barrier to achieving this. Read the full article here.