Practice Guideline

Chemotherapy administration standards and guidelines: The development of a resource document

David J. Eedes, Belinda Bailey, Henriette Burger
South African Journal of Oncology | Vol 2 | a48 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/sajo.v2i0.48 | © 2018 David J. Eedes | This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 19 June 2018 | Published: 13 August 2018

About the author(s)

David J. Eedes, Independent Clinical Oncology Network, Tyger Valley, South Africa
Belinda Bailey, Independent Clinical Oncology Network, Tyger Valley, South Africa
Henriette Burger, Department of Medical Imaging and Clinical Oncology, Stellenbosch University, South Africa; Tygerberg Academic Hospital, Parow, South Africa

Abstract

There are no nationally recognised guidelines for the handling and administration of chemotherapy in South Africa. The Independent Clinical Oncology Network’s Chemotherapy Administration Standards and Guidelines Resource Documentwas developed over 2 years and first introduced at a South African international oncology conference in 2017. A working group consisting of oncologists and oncology nurses was set up to address this deficiency. Pragmatic guidelines suitable to a wide range of local chemotherapy administration practices were developed using an iterative, multidisciplinary, collaborative process. The consensus was that these guidelines should be appropriate to the South African context. Safety, standard operational procedures, recommended professional competencies and training were central to the document. Guidelines for prescribing, storing, mixing, dispensing, administering and disposing of chemotherapy were included. Patient consent and involvement, patient and staff safety, recommended professional competencies, management of accidents and errors, error reporting and local legal requirements are dealt with in detail. The hope is that these guidelines will be used as a resource document for South African chemotherapy practices, both public and private. The document is supported by standard operating procedures and action steps. These were developed to promote the use of the guidelines and to support pragmatic quality assurance measures at practice level. These standards and guidelines will be regularly updated, based on needs identified and deficiencies noted.


Keywords

chemotherapy administration standards and guidelines; resource document; role; responsibilities and requisite competencies; administration of chemotherapy; South Africa

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