CINV in the UK: a prospective audit of patient experience

Chemotherapy induces nausea and vomiting in a significant number of cancer patients across the world each day. Unfortunately patients tend to be at home and away from the specialist oncology centres when the symptoms are at their worst. This leads to a disconnect between what health professionals predict will happen to patients and what patients actually experience, especially in the delayed phase of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) (Grunberg, 2004). Following feedback from a European forum (see preceding article, p. 22-8) that CINV is still poorly managed, the UK Oncology Nursing Society (UKONS) is proposing a nation-wide, multi-site audit of the patient-reported CINV experience by reviewing specially-designed CINV diaries. Each cycle of treatment will be recorded and side effects closely monitored for several days after treatment. Furthermore, the audit will assess the clinical prescribing habits, use of international CINV guidelines and variations in local protocols for these patients. An online survey will be undertaken by the clinical teams on what they predict a group of chemotherapy patients will experience by way of CINV. This audit will then be compared to the reported side effects experienced by the patients. It is proposed that this audit will provide evidence of how NHS and private oncology teams manage CINV within the UK.