The patient journey

We treat approximately 165 patients a day on the SACT day services unit at The Christie. There are a variety of different routes patients come through before treatment. This process can be confusing, so please do not hesitate to ask a member of staff if you have any questions.

You will have your appointments spread over 2 days. On the first day, you will have your blood taken and, if needed, you will see the doctor. The second appointment will be for your treatment. This will significantly reduce your waiting times as your treatment will be ready for you when you arrive. We will also be able to start treatments early in the day, so patients whose treatment takes a long time will finish earlier.

There is also the option to have your bloods taken at a site closer to your home. You will be seen by our Christie healthcare assistants who will take your blood and these samples are brought back to The Christie to be analysed ahead of your treatment.

• If a blood test is required, please check in using the self check-in kiosk in central phlebotomy (department 35) or outpatients (department 22). You will be given directions to the blood room.
• You will be called for your blood test via the information screens in the outpatients waiting area.
• When you have had your blood test, please check in separately for your clinic appointment using the self check-in kiosk in  outpatients. You will be called for your appointment via the same screens in the outpatients waiting area.
• Once you have seen the doctor, if you are due to be treated on a separate day you are free to leave.
• When you attend SACT services for treatment, check in using the self check-in kiosk in the Oak Road patient treatment centre (department 1). You will be called for your treatment via the information screens in the Oak Road and M&S Food to Go waiting
  areas. If you intend to leave the areas where these screens are visible, please leave your mobile phone number with reception so they can call you when the treating nurse is ready.

• If you are seeing the doctor before treatment, please check in using the self check-in kiosk in department 1. You will be called for your appointment via the information screens in the Oak Road and M&S Food to Go waiting areas.
• You will see the doctor and agree that your treatment is going ahead. If you are due to have treatment on the same day, your treatment will be requested.
• If you have left your mobile number, you are free to leave the patient treatment centre. We will call you as soon as the treating nurse is ready for you.
• If you do not have a mobile, you can still leave the treatment centre but please return to reception and take a seat at the time of your treatment appointment.

• Not all patients need to see the doctor on all cycles of treatment. The visits where you do not see the doctor are called ‘protocol’.
• Check in using the self check-in kiosk in department 1. If you have a mobile phone with you, please give the number to the receptionist.
• You will be called for your blood test via the information screens in the Oak Road and M&S Food to Go waiting areas.
• When you have had your blood test, you are free to leave the department if you have left a mobile number. The treating nurse will call you when they are ready for you. If you do not have a mobile, you can still leave the department but please return to reception and take a seat at the time of your treatment  appointment.

There are occasions when your treatment may have to be postponed for example, if your blood results are not within our set ranges. We will tell you about this as soon as we can and arrange another appointment for you – normally a week later.

If there are any delays in the department, these will be communicated to you as soon as possible. Please be aware the hospital telephone number will show up on your mobile phone as ‘withheld’ or ‘unknown’.

If you have any queries or questions while you are waiting for  treatment, please ask at reception to speak to the ground floor manager.

You may need to set aside the whole day for tests and treatment. If you have a long infusion or if there are delays for any other reason, you may not finish your treatment until well into the evening. This could result in an overnight stay in the hospital, although every effort will be made to complete your treatment as an outpatient.

If you need to pick up take home medications, please be aware that the pharmacy department will only start to process your prescription when you attend pharmacy.

To avoid any delays, it is best to attend pharmacy as early as possible so that your medications can be prepared.

Please note: We do not allow visitors onto the treatment floor unless previously agreed with the nurse in charge.

Very important: If you feel unwell on the day of your chemotherapy appointment and are too poorly to attend your appointment, you should call The Christie Hotline on 0161 446 3658 for advice. You may be advised to keep your appointment so that you can see a doctor. The doctor may decide to defer your chemotherapy or carry out further tests.

We have local centres to treat patients closer to their homes - see more about this on our SACT closer to home pages.

• Patients who are having treatments lasting over 9 hours will be treated on a ward.
• Book in as instructed on your admission letter.
• You will have a blood test. The sample is sent to the laboratory for analysis. Samples are processed immediately, but the time taken for results to be available will vary depending on the number of other samples being analysed. We want to be sure that your blood tests are satisfactory. If they are not, your chemotherapy may have to be delayed, and we will give you another appointment.
• It can take 1 to 2 hours before the results are ready and your treatment can be ordered or given. During this time, you can go elsewhere within The Christie. We can take your mobile number and contact you as soon as your blood results are ready.
• You will see your doctor or nurse. If they decide you can have your treatment that day, you will be allocated a bed on a ward. There will be a wait depending on how many patients are being admitted and discharged that day.
• If you have to wait for a bed over the lunchtime period, we will provide refreshments.
• You now have to wait for your treatment to be delivered to the ward. Again, this will vary depending on how many other people are being treated that day.

There are several steps involved in preparing and giving treatment; it is not a quick process. We understand that the long waits can be tiring and frustrating.

In the rare event of no beds being available, we will keep you informed and try to get you admitted the following day.

Chemotherapy uses cytotoxic (anti-cancer) drugs to destroy cancer cells. This and other SACT treatment requires several checks during  preparation.

• First of all, your prescription is carefully checked in pharmacy.
• Pharmacy then sends the prescription through to the pharmaceutical company who make the treatment for The Christie.
• The details of your prescription are double-checked. The treatment is carefully made in a sterile area before the pharmacist at the pharmaceutical company makes a final check.
• The treatment is delivered to the treatment area and a final check is done by nursing staff. Some treatments may be made up by your SACT nurse.

We hope this information has helped you to understand why at times you might have to wait for your treatment to start. It is a complicated procedure which can take time. It may seem that little is happening, but there is a lot of vital preparation going on behind the scenes.

• If your treatment is altered on the day.
• If you have to wait for the results of tests before your treatment can start.
• Some drugs have a short expiry date or time or are very expensive drugs, we operate an ‘on-hold’ system. This means that it is not made up until the doctor or nurse confirms that the results of your blood tests are satisfactory. In this way, we try to avoid wasting these drugs which cannot be recycled or used for another patient.  Once a drug is taken ‘off-hold’, it will take at least 2 to 3 hours to
  be prepared and delivered to The Christie.
• Due to the busy clinics, we cannot tell how long each consultation will be. The length of time depends on each patient’s needs.
• Some treatments require medication giving before the treatment starts, this can be taken up to 1 hour before starting the infusion. This is usually done to prevent a serious, life-threatening reaction to the SACT treatment.