People living with and beyond cancer (PLWBC) face many challenges, including failure of communications with their clinical team and sub optimal support for early detection of symptoms and adverse events that can have a detrimental effect on their ongoing care.
With the increased use of oral anti-cancer agents, patients are often at home when they experience a side effect and therefore need support in deciding how to self-manage and/or report it to their healthcare professional. This decision is often time-sensitive as a delay in reporting some side effects can lead to long term complications, life threatening events and an interruption to their cancer treatment. Involving and supporting patients in managing their condition is empowering and provides them with some of the control they often lose during the cancer journey.

The use of technology to support communications and early detection of problems is well documented in the literature with some studies evaluating their use in cancer care. Technology has the potential to offer a complementary supportive function by being available 24/7 to provide advice and guidance while monitoring patient reported outcomes (PROs) whenever the need arises for information in regards to their own therapy thus offering alternative processes for all to have equal access. However, despite this positive evidence, new technologies have proven slow to become accepted, integrated and implemented in practice resulting in innovations remaining within the realm of research and not within the reach of everyday practice. This could be partially due to a lack of an implementation strategy.

At Kingston University, I am a member of a multidisciplinary team of pharmacists and mobile health experts that has designed and developed a holistic platform that offers such support to cancer patients. CanAdvice is an award winning platform that follows a patient-centred design supported by an in depth needs assessment of cancer patients. CanAdvice supports users with self-management and reporting of adverse events. Following successful validation and usability studies, CanAdvice is now in clinical trial at the Royal Marsden Foundation Trust. Preliminary results show high acceptability among users, and fantastic feedback.

​I’m involved in this research to study and support how technology can improve the patient journey.
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Recent interview on the topic with myself at British Oncology Pharmacy Association annual conference https://www.vjoncology.com/video/ahh-9e604um-smart-app-to-allow-patients-to-manage-their-side-effects-independently/
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Hi! I’m Emma and I’m a Clinical Research Practitioner for my local NHS Hospital.
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By background, I am an Operating Department Practitioner (ODP) who specialises in anaesthetics for general, orthopaedic and vascular surgery for a number of years. I also spent a great deal of time in A&E and ICU responding to emergencies and was also a mentor for student ODPs. 

​My daily job involved working closely with anaesthetists to keep patients safe during their surgery and being the patients advocate. I made the big move to research in 2017 and work with a wonderful team made up of AHPs, Nurses and Clinical Research Assistants. Being an ODP starting out in the world of research was a big jump and somewhat unheard of for my profession, however it has allowed me to transfer niche skills learnt from the perioperative environment and weave them into the world of clinical research with continuing success. Whilst what goes on behind theatre doors remains a mystery for many, for an ODP, carrying out research in this specialist area allows me to implement trials safely and effectively due to the niche understanding of how and why surgical care pathways work in such a way.  This in turn has seen patient and colleague involvement increase dramatically and trials running very smoothly. 

​My day to day research job involves recruiting patients to a number of clinical trials I work on, however this can vary on whether it is a planned or an emergency admission. The majority of my trials are surgical, breast and critical care lead and I’ve recently branched out into the world of cardiology, which is a scary but exciting new avenue!

​A typical day for me involves screening patients, answering queries, attending clinic appointments, seeing patients for various trial needs, taking blood, preparing and giving IV’s. I also attend MDT’s, meet with various colleagues on a daily basis and educate staff on current clinical trials being carried out in order for them to be implemented and delivered effectively and efficiently. Whilst the majority of my day is planned, it can all go out of the window if I’m rung to recruit a patient who has been admitted for emergency surgery or has been admitted to A&E after having a cardiac event. Sometimes I’m only giving minutes to have an in-depth conversation with a patient about whether they’d like to be involved in an emergency based research trial and I absolutely applaud these patients for taking the time to participate in research when they’re feeling at their absolute low or have been giving a potentially life changing diagnosis, but still want to help make a difference. 

​My absolute favourite part of the job is working as part of a multidisciplinary team across the hospital and as a result, I have the absolute pleasure of working with some of the most wonderful Doctors and Nurses pictured within this blog that I never would have come across if it wasn’t for research. We all bring something different to a clinical trial to make it succeed for ourselves and our patients. 

​I am involved in research because the future of our healthcare and its advancement relies on good quality research being carried out today. It takes a multidisciplinary team approach from all backgrounds to come together and deliver exceptional results and I’m thrilled I can offer something a little different into the world of research by being an ODP!

​AHPs can really help blaze the way in this field! So much so, I won an award for my contributions towards research at my local hospital. If an ODP can do it, anyone can. Research within the NHS is an extremely rewarding job and it’s humbling to see patients eager to be a part of helping to make a difference. 

​I can be found on Twitter, so if you want to know more, please do get in touch! https://twitter.com/EmmaMarshall981

​And yes…that is a picture of with me an inflatable flamingo! I won it as part of an anaesthetic trial I work on. Blame the anaesthetist…!