After you finish your cancer treatment at UCLH, you will start follow-up care. This is important to keep track of your health. It helps us to spot any signs that your cancer might have come back or changed. You can also get support for any side effects you might have from the cancer or its treatment.
The type of follow-up care you have will depend on the cancer and treatments you had.
Your follow-up may include in-person, video or phone appointments. These will be with your doctor or a clinical nurse specialist. You might also need tests, such as CT scans or blood tests.
Patient Initiated Follow-Up (PIFU)
For some people, follow-up care will be ‘patient-initiated’. This means that you won’t have regular scheduled outpatient appointments although you may still have tests. Both you and your GP will get the test results either by phone or letter. If you ever have a concern related to your cancer, you can contact your healthcare team at UCLH. They will arrange an appointment for you, if needed.
Patient-initiated follow-up is also called PIFU. At UCLH, PIFU is only available for people with certain types of cancer. Your healthcare team will tell you if PIFU is available for you.
PIFU is not suitable for everyone. If you have concerns or other health issues, you may have regular, scheduled appointments instead.
Personalised Stratified Follow-Up (PSFU)
Some people may be suitable for remote monitoring. This may involve you having tests or scans at a hospital or GP surgery near you.
Your UCLH healthcare team will review the results and contact you if you need further tests. This is also known as Personalised Stratified Follow-Up (PSFU).