Questions to ask : getting the most out of your appointment

Click here to go to the Department of Health leaflet “Questions to ask: getting the most out of your appointment”

“Questions to ask” - has been developed by the UK's Department of Health to help everyone get the best out of their appointment.

We know that shared decision making between patients and professionals can make a lasting and significant different to healthcare outcomes. Receiving and understanding the right information during an appointment is key to involving people in decisions about their treatment and care. “Questions to ask” supports this involvement by helping people with general questions during a consultation, such as “Are there any side effects or risks?” and “How will I know if the treatment is working?”

“Questions to ask” is available in a number of formats, posters, easy read, large print, audio, braille and a two-sided A5 leaflet. Translations of the leaflet are available in Arabic, Bengali, French, Gujarati, Somali, Portuguese, Polish, Punjabi, Spanish and Urdu.

Questions to ask your brachytherapy specialist

• Will I be given hormone treatment prior to brachytherapy? If yes, why? If not, why not?
• How long does the procedure take?
• How many of these procedures do you do a year?
• Will I require external beam radiotherapy as well as brachytherapy?
• In your experience, how successful is this procedure?
• What are your results in respect of impotence and incontinence?
• How long will I be in hospital?
• Will I have much pain after the implant and how will the pain be controlled?
• How soon is my follow-up appointment after discharge, and when will the PSA first be measured?
• How often will my PSA be checked?
• What should the PSA be after brachytherapy? What would it mean if it doesn't reach that level? What would you do then?