Jacquie Woodcock and colleagues review the development and evaluation of an acute oncology teaching package for senior emergency department staff

Acute oncology services have been developed to meet the unplanned, urgent care needs of patients with cancer more effectively. Such patients often develop problems associated with the disease or the side effects of its treatment and present to emergency departments or medical assessment units, and their care must be timely if outcomes are to be positive. This article describes an education package that includes a traffic-light system to help emergency care staff prioritise the management of these patients and to meet their learning needs. The article also includes results of an evaluation of the programme and an account of how best to disseminate knowledge of cancer care in clinical settings.