We would like to continue to be involved in your care even after you
have stopped coming to our follow-up clinics.
How we are informed
of your progress
We try to encourage your ophthalmologist to keep us informed of your
condition by sending us a copy of the letter to your general practitioner
after each visit to your hospital. This letter should explicitly state
the vision in each eye and mention any ocular or general conditions
that have arisen. I read each letter as it arrives and if there are
any problems then I review your records and write a reply, advising
as appropriate. This letter is then passed on to our data manager, so
that all relevant information is computerized in our database. This
information is used to perform long term studies, which are so important
in evaluating our care. Finally, the letter is filed in your case sheet.
It is normal hospital practice to destroy all case sheets after three
years, keeping only microfilms of selected pages. We have been granted
special permission for all the case sheets of patients with uveal melanoma
to be conserved indefinitely.
What we do when
a patient develops metastatic disease
If we are notified by post or telephone that a patient has developed
metastatic disease, then a reply is sent to the general practitioner
or ophthalmologist who has contacted us, together with information on
the current state of knowledge regarding the treatment of metastatic
uveal melanoma. Copies of relevant pages of the case sheets and pathology
reports are also sent to your general oncologist, on request.
How you can get
in touch with us
We would all like patients to feel that they can get in touch with us
at any time, no matter how many years have elapsed since treatment was
completed. All patients are most welcome to contact us either by making
a telephone call to our specialist ocular oncology nurse or by writing
a letter.
How we keep
you informed of progress
We are publishing a newsletter, to be mailed once a year to every patient
we have treated for melanoma. We also publish this website on the internet,
which is updated regularly.
