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Bazian review confirms home chemotherapy safety

 

13 January 2011

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 out-patient delivered care.

The Bazian1 review, commissioned by Bupa, presents an in-depth appraisal of 90 comparative studies assessing home chemotherapy versus out-patient, 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

Notes to editors:
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

For more information contact:
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
 

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