Measure and publish pain control rates in every cancer centre
Hospitals publish survival and infection rates but almost never how many of their cancer patients are in uncontrolled pain. Measuring and publishing it would make pain a priority.
Undertreated cancer pain remains common even in well-resourced systems. Routine pain scoring exists in many hospitals but is not aggregated, benchmarked, or published. A national quality indicator (for instance, the proportion of patients with advanced cancer reporting moderate or severe pain at outpatient visits) with public reporting by centre would use the same accountability lever that improved infection control and waiting times.
- Pain relief and palliative care are unavailable to most · Most people who die of cancer worldwide do so without adequate pain relief.
- Toxicity and quality of life are undervalued · Trials measure how long people live, not how they live. Side-effects are under-reported and under-treated.
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not linked directly; found by shared links- InstitutionMarie Curie
Shares Pain relief and palliative care are unavailable to most, Toxicity and quality of life are undervalued.
- PersonDame Cicely Saunders
Shares Pain relief and palliative care are unavailable to most, Toxicity and quality of life are undervalued.
- Key paperTemel: early palliative care alongside chemotherapy improved quality of life, mood and survival in lung cancer
Shares Pain relief and palliative care are unavailable to most, Toxicity and quality of life are undervalued.