Consultant’s view: My patients are receiving excellent care
“Good clinical care, with the patient at the centre of it. The service is designed to look after patients needs when they’re in the most vulnerable time of their life.” – Dr. Raouf, Consultant Clinical Oncologist
Consultant Clinical Oncologist, Dr Raouf, has almost 20 years experience as a consultant.
“The benefits to me in my work is peace of mind, knowing that my patients are receiving excellent care and I’m getting very good feedback on what’s happening.”
Looking after a patient when they’re in the most vulnerable time of their life
“The key benefits for the patient when using a service like LloydsPharmacy Clinical Homecare is how personal it is to them,” says Dr Raouf. “LPCH personalises the communication with the patient and the family, because usually it’s one nurse that continues the journey with the patient throughout their treatment. If the same person is assessing the patient every two or three weeks, that person will be in a great position to pick up on any clinical change in their condition.”
When asked about the specific benefits of the service, Dr Raouf stresses that it’s valuable to everyone involved. “The chemotherapy is delivered to the patient at their home, which helps minimise the risk of them being exposed to infection. All this can help reduce pressures on other care giving facilities, whether it’s a private hospital, or an NHS hospital.”
Technology has also added further advantages to LPCH’s services. “I use iQemo with LPCH and I think it’s really transformed the service. I can access it from home, from the office, from my mobile phone, so I can be completely assured that what I want the patient to have is what they’re getting.”
“The nice thing about this process is the consultant gets feedback on every visit where the patient has been seen by the nurse. If anything happens in between cycles, then the patient gets in touch with the LPCH team and they are very quick in notifying either myself or the treating consultant of anything that we need to be aware of. To me, that provides comprehensive care for the patient.”
Lastly, Dr Raouf again stresses the crucial benefits of LPCH’s services. “The overall benefit of using LPCH is good clinical care with the patient at the centre of it. The service is designed to look after patient needs when they’re in the most vulnerable time of their life.”
“We can take away the pressure of everything else that goes on around the patient; this is the value that the [LPCH] team bring to patient care.”
About Dr Raouf
Dr Raouf is a Consultant Clinical Oncologist, who first came to hear about LloydsPharmacy Clinical Homecare (LPCH) when a patient of his inquired about having chemotherapy at home. He has been referring patients to LPCH for 7-8 years now.
Dr Raouf also takes the time to emphasise that the referral process to LPCH is very simple. “The referral process is very straightforward. Once the treatment has been decided and agreed, the patient signs the consent form, we make a referral to the admin team, the admin team allocate a dedicated nurse to go and see the patient, and then they see the patient for a pre-assessment.”