Your survivorship care plan: what it is and how to get one

A survivorship care plan is a written document given at the end of cancer treatment that brings together two things: a summary of the cancer and the treatment you received, and a plan for your long-term health. It usually lists your diagnosis, the chemotherapy medicines and total amounts, radiotherapy areas, surgery, significant side effects and complications, and the names of your treating doctors. The plan part explains which follow-up visits and tests you need, which late effects to watch for, which symptoms to report, who is responsible for each part of your care, and how to stay healthy. International cancer organisations recommend that everyone finishing treatment receives one.

In practice, few people in India are routinely given a formal survivorship care plan. Discharge summaries and treatment letters contain some of the information, but they are often scattered, technical and incomplete, and they rarely set out long-term checks. This matters because years later, a family doctor, cardiologist, gynaecologist or emergency doctor may need to know exactly what treatment you had. Without that information, late effects can be missed or tests repeated unnecessarily, and important decisions may be made without the full picture.

You can ask for a plan. Towards the end of treatment, ask your oncologist or nurse whether the team can prepare a treatment summary and long-term follow-up plan. If they do not have a standard format, you can use the sections on this page as a checklist and ask them to help fill in the medical details. Keep the plan with your records, share it with your family doctor, and update it as follow-up continues. This page explains what a plan should contain; your team provides the specific details.

It is a summary and a plan

What happened during treatment, and what should happen next.

You can ask for it

Even if not routinely offered, most teams can help prepare one.

It protects your future care

Future doctors can make safer, better-informed decisions.

It cannot fill in the medical details of your plan. Only your treating team has the full record of your treatment and can advise on follow-up.

It also cannot promise that every hospital offers survivorship plans. You may need to ask and help assemble one.

Who uses the plan

Your family doctor uses it to arrange routine checks and recognise late effects. Specialists, such as cardiologists or endocrinologists, use it to understand your risks. Emergency doctors use it to treat you safely. You and your family use it to know what to watch for.

Plans for childhood survivors

Children treated for cancer need especially detailed plans, because late effects can appear decades later. When they move to adult care, the plan should go with them, and young people should understand their own treatment history.

Digital and paper copies

Keep a paper copy and a digital copy, such as a photo or scanned file on your phone or email. Hospitals may change record systems, so your own copy is valuable.

When information is missing

If you finished treatment years ago and have no summary, ask the treating hospital's records department for your chemotherapy charts and discharge letters. A doctor can help build a summary from these.

Privacy

Keep your plan safe, and share it only with people and doctors you choose.

Linking with other plans

Your first-year recovery plan can sit alongside the survivorship care plan, focusing on practical goals.

Questions to ask when preparing your plan

Useful questions include: which medicines and total amounts did I receive; which areas had radiotherapy; which late effects am I at risk of; which checks do I need and how often; who arranges each check; what symptoms should I report; and whom do I contact with concerns.

Using the plan with your family doctor

Give your family doctor a copy and ask them to add key details to your health record. This helps them arrange routine checks, recognise late effects and refer you back to specialists when needed.

Using the plan with other specialists

When you see a cardiologist, gynaecologist, dentist or any other specialist, bring your plan. Treatment history can affect their advice, such as heart checks before surgery or fertility discussions.

The plan and insurance

Insurers sometimes ask for medical details after cancer. Having an accurate summary can make applications and claims easier.

Emotional value of the plan

Many people find that having a clear plan reduces anxiety, because it replaces uncertainty with a list of practical steps and contacts.

If your hospital has no format

Use the sections on this page as a template, and ask your oncologist or nurse to complete and sign the medical details.

Keeping it current

Add new test results, specialist letters and changes in follow-up to your plan, so it stays useful over the years.

Plans after stem cell transplant

People who had a transplant usually need a more detailed plan, including revaccination, hormone checks and long-term transplant follow-up. Ask the transplant team to contribute.

Signing and dating the plan

Ask the doctor completing the plan to sign and date it, so future doctors know it is reliable.

What to do next

Ask your team for a treatment summary and follow-up plan, gather your treatment documents, check that late effects and follow-up are included, share the plan with your family doctor, keep copies safe, and update it over time.