Side effects are one thing cancer patients cannot afford to ignore, and the Southern Blood and Cancer Service is leading the country with a new clinic where patients can drop in after treatment.
The clinic is run concurrently by nurses and radiation therapists and gives patients the opportunity to discuss side effects and symptoms, and talk to someone about their worries and concerns.
Oncology nurse Jo Tuaine said cancer patients had to learn not to minimise problems or put up with side effects.
"We need to stress to them they don't take a couple of Panadol and say `If it's not better tomorrow, we'll ring'."
When the clinic was first started, it was run by an oncology nurse, but now radiation therapists had been brought on board.
While countries such as the United Kingdom were involving radiation therapists in similar ventures, nobody else was doing it in New Zealand and a new training course had to be developed.
Radiation therapists assess a patient's condition prior to giving them a dose of radiotherapy, but the further training helps them to accurately interpret information given to them by patients in a clinic setting and to recognise non-verbal signals during consultation.
Radiation therapist Annie Morris, the first person to go through the training, said being involved in the new clinic was exciting.
When she asks cancer patients "How are you?", the usual answer is: "I'm fine, thank you."
However, when she starts asking more detailed questions, a different picture can emerge.
"All the time you are sitting and listening, and that is a big part of it, as well as watching body language.
"It would be easy if you could say `On day 16, this will happen'."
However, side effects varied greatly between patients.
Often, patients would see a radiation oncologist before starting treatment, then might not see them again until they had finished.
"The feedback I get is people are really well informed and feel like they have some sort of ownership about their care and treatment."
