New cancer treatment helps ease pressure on the NHS

A NEW treatment plan, developed in Yorkshire, is allowing more young cancer patients to recover from mild infections at home – helping to ease pressure on the NHS during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The programme is a collaboration by researchers in York and Australia and identifies when young cancer patients with a fever can be treated and supported at home.

Dr Bob Phillips, from the University of York, is leading the push to roll out the programme in the UK.

He said: “It is early days, but the simple and robust system is already popular with families who have trialled it in Leeds, London, and Newcastle.”

Children undergoing cancer treatment face an increased risk of developing febrile neutropenia, a fever with low numbers of a white blood cells which are important in fighting infections. Febrile neutropenia may require hospital admission for antibiotics, but the international collaboration is working to manage suitable cases at home.

Dr Phillips said of the 32 children who have presented with febrile neutropenia at Leeds Teaching Hospital so far, nine have gone home with support and an antibiotic treatment plan within a day, compared to a usual minimum hospital stay of three days.

A roll-out in the UK is supported by the Children’s Cancer and Leukaemia Group (CCLG).

It follows on from the creation of the Australia, UK and Switzerland rule (AUS-rule) which helps doctors decide which children with febrile neutropenia are suitable for home management using antibiotics and temperature monitoring.