Improving outcomes in children and young people with cancer

This guideline covers how healthcare services for children and young people with cancer should be organised. It aims to improve care by recommending which healthcare professionals should be involved and the types of hospital or cancer centre best suited to provide the care.

Recommendations

This guideline recommends that:

• care should be coordinated across the whole NHS and be as close to home as possible
• multidisciplinary teams should provide cancer care
• all children and young people should have a clearly defined key worker
• care should be appropriate for the child’s or young person’s age and type of cancer
• time in the operating theatre and a children’s anaesthetist should be available when needed
• children and young people should be offered the chance to take part in research trials
• cancer networks should make sure there are enough specialist staff

Who is it for?

• Healthcare professionals
• Commissioners and providers
• Children and young people with cancer, their families and carers

Is this guideline up to date?

We checked this guideline in July 2014. We found no new evidence that affects the recommendations in this guideline.

Guideline development process

How we develop NICE guidelines