Introduction:
To explore if and how outreach chemotherapy is being offered by clinicians to Gastro-intestinal (GI) cancer patients; what information patients received and what choice they made in relation to where their chemotherapy was administered.

Methods:
Ethical approval was established in 2017. Data collection occurred over five months between May - September 2017 in a regional hospital.
Data included (n = 10) GI cancer patients followed at three time points over chemotherapy treatment cycles using semi-structured telephone interviews (n = 28). HCPs (n = 34) completed six closed questions and (n = 20) one free text response survey. Descriptive statistics and thematic analysis were used to establish themes and make comparisons.
 
Results:
100% of staff know the hospital has an outreach service for providing chemotherapy. At the time of the survey, (n = 19, 55.9%) members of staff had referred 0-5 patients in the previous month. Outreach was offered to (n = 5, 50%) participants in total across the three-telephone interview timepoints. Of those, (n = 3, 30%) patients embarked on having their chemotherapy administered in alternative locations. Results demonstrate that HCPs are confused as to whose responsibility it currently is and who should be referring patients. Not all patients received information about available treatment locations, and those that were aware had different views on the organisational process. 

Conclusion:
Current information given to patients is inadequate. Suggestions to improve the service include re-writing the current policy, developing a clear referral pathway, establishing a nurse to oversee the outreach service, education and streamlining responsibilities.

MASCC/ISOO Annual Meeting on Supportive Care in Cancer