A new independent review of the clinical evidence about the safety and acceptability of home chemotherapy has confirmed that, when appropriate, it is as safe as hospital or outpatient delivered care.
The Bazian1 review, commissioned by Bupa, presents an
in-depth appraisal of 90 comparative studies assessing home
chemotherapy versus outpatient, day-unit or hospital-based
chemotherapy.
The review also found that there is some evidence for increased
preference and patient satisfaction with home chemotherapy when
compared with hospital-delivered therapy. Over 70 per cent of
patients preferred home chemotherapy, based on two randomised
trials on over 90 people2.
Dr Andrew Vallance-Owen, group medical director, Bupa said,Bupa customers who require cancer treatment are increasingly asking us about the availability of home chemotherapy and we have received positive feedback from those who have been treated at home. Their views and the clinical evidence available are encouraging us to engage with oncologists to enable greater choice for patients.
Separately, Ipsos MORI3 research commissioned by Bupa
has found that 83 per cent of UK respondents would find it more
convenient if a nurse or other clinician could visit them and
safely provide the treatments that they may otherwise have had at
hospital.
Bupa supports people with cancer by providing them with
information about their treatment options and has recently created
an online patient factsheet about home
chemotherapy.4
Ends
1Bazian is an independent company which analyses
medical research through transparent systematic review processes to
improve decision making about treatments or the way that health
services are configured. The full Bazian review of chemotherapy at
home can be found at http://www.bazian.com/about_us/news/chemotherapy_at_home.html
2 Some individuals did not complete the trials.
3 Ipsos MORI interviewed 12,262 members of the general
public between 10 June and 14 July 2010. All interviews took place
through Ipsos online panels and Ipsos panel partners
4 Bupa Home Healthcare is the UK's most experienced
provider of comprehensive high tech and specialist homecare
Contact Us
Samantha Maslen
Corporate Communications Manager, Bupa
+44 (0)207 656 2638,
samantha.maslen@bupa.com
or
Bupa Corporate Affairs
+44 (0)20 7656 2454,
bupapressoffice@bupa.com
Bupa's purpose is to help people lead longer, healthier, happier lives. A leading international healthcare group, we offer personal and company health insurance, run care homes for older people and hospitals, and provide workplace health services, health assessments and chronic disease management services, including health coaching, and home healthcare.
With no shareholders, we invest our profits to provide more and better healthcare, and fulfill our purpose. We are committed to making quality, patient-centred, affordable healthcare more accessible in the areas of wellness, chronic disease management and ageing.
Employing more than 52,000 people, Bupa has operations around the world, principally in the UK, Australia, Spain, New Zealand and the USA, as well as Hong Kong, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, India, China and across Latin America.
For more information, visit www.bupa.com.
