Education to achieve symptom control for patients with cancer

This project evaluated whether shared interprofessional education across primary and secondary care could improve symptom control for patients with cancer. An action learning group of 16 health care professionals and patients from the community and hospital took part in an initial three-month learning and change process and an evaluation at the end of one year. Both participants and facilitators developed skills in working with other health care settings, as well as experience of using a continuous quality improvement tool. Participants developed a greater understanding of how the NHS worked and what was required to enable patients to receive improved care. The project enabled professionals to work more effectively with both primary and secondary services, agencies, and helped patients to enhance symptom control.