Aims
The Symptom Urgent Review Clinic (SURC) commenced operation at the Northern Hospital in February 2018. Its purpose is to provide timely care of non-emergency cancer and treatment related symptoms and conditions. It also aims to decrease avoidable emergency department presentations and inpatient admissions. This review aimed to evaluate the clinical characteristic of patients presenting to SURC over a 7-month period.
Methods
Data about patient presentations was collected prospectively. Demographics captured included type of contact, contact source, tumour stream diagnosis, treatment, time since last treatment, timing of presentation, reason for presentation and outcomes. Data from a 7-month period from January 3rd until August 8th 2023 was analysed.
Results
In the 7-month time period, 592 patients underwent 3054 episodes of care. This is an average of 436 encounters per month. The most common source of contact were phone calls initiated by the patient and/or carer (46.5%). 13% of these led to recommendations for the patient to present to SURC. 76% of episodes were for patients with solid tumours with the most common tumour stream being colorectal cancer (29%). 62% of patients were undergoing chemotherapy. For the patients undergoing treatment, 51% of presentations were in the week following administration. The most common presentations were gastrointestinal symptoms at 15%, followed by pain at 13% and care coordination at 12%. Only 5% of contacts required referral on to the emergency department and 3% required direct admission to the ward or transit lounge. Of the group requiring admission, the most common tumour stream was colorectal and the most common reason for admission were gastrointestinal symptoms.
Conclusions
The majority of presentations to SURC were patient and/or carer led and there was only a small need for inpatient admission or emergency department referral. Patterns about the type of presentations will help guide future service provision.