Cancer patients in Bristol are among the first in the country to have their chemotherapy in their own homes on the NHS.

A pilot is being carried out in the city to find out whether patients want the option of nurses administering the drugs where they live rather than having to travel to hospital for treatment.

If the trial is a success, it could be extended across the Bristol area and possibly the country to give cancer patients more choice about their care.

Under the scheme, which is being carried out in partnership between Bristol Haematology and Oncology Centre and NHS Bristol – which funds health care in the city – patients are visited by nurses from private firm Healthcare at Home.

They are given their chemotherapy drugs in the same way as they would be in hospital, but can stay in their own bed or sit in their favourite chair, while they are administered.

The pilot is part of a drive to give people more choice about where they have treatment by taking care out of the main hospitals and providing it in settings closer to their homes, and patients living in the NHS Bristol area are being given the option of care at home when their doctor discusses chemotherapy with them.

June Drayton, who is undergoing treatment for breast cancer, has already had four cycles of chemotherapy at her Shirehampton home.

She said: "At first I said 'pardon?', because I couldn't believe it, but my answer was 'yes, of course'. It is an absolutely fantastic idea.

"To get to the oncology centre it would involve public transport with someone coughing behind you and the drag up the hill and if you go to the hospital by car, where on earth do you park? It is a nightmare.

"It's stress, stress, stress, whereas here I am all relaxed. The girls are absolutely brilliant, they are like friends. I can do anything and usually just chat. They are great up at the hospital, but being in your own home is a big bonus."

Mrs Drayton, who used to run a motorcycle shop with Mike, her husband of 50 years, noticed a lump in her breast while in the shower on holiday. Within two weeks of being referred by her GP she had her breast removed.

Mrs Drayton, 73, started chemotherapy six weeks ago and has had four of her six sessions so far at home.

Sessions start with anti-sickness tablets half an hour before the drugs are administered. Then a line is set up for the drugs. Her first scalp cooling cap, to minimise hair loss during the treatment is taken out of the freezer and put on, then 20 minutes later the nurse puts the chemotherapy drugs through. Caps are swapped over during the course of treatment and another is put on at the end.

Mrs Drayton said: "For the young mother, with perhaps a couple of children, the stress levels of going up to the oncology centre, finding someone to look after the children, or perhaps her husband having to have time off work, this is wonderful."

Nurse Helen Alexander, and her colleagues takes a tool box full of kit to patients. She said: "The patient sits where they want to, whether it is in a chair, lying on the sofa or in bed and we will work around them. They are able to listen to music, watch TV, read, do crosswords."

The scheme has been running in Bristol for seven months and 105 patients have opted fore chemotherapy at home.

Oncologist Dr Jeremy Braybrooke said the feedback from patients has been positive and he has not heard of anyone who was not satisfied.

He said: "We are trying to offer people a real choice between coming into the oncology centre for treatment, going to Whitchurch health centre, or having treatment at home. We acknowledge this is not suitable for everybody."

Dr Braybrooke said that offering chemotherapy at home is a new area for oncology and the pilot is being seen as an innovative project nationally.

A review will be carried out once the pilot has been completed so that NHS Bristol can decide whether to continue offering chemotherapy at home.

Director of commissioning at NHS Bristol, Deborah Lee, said she could not preempt the findings, but expects more care to be provided to patients in their own homes in the future.

She said: "The pilot has lived up to our expectations. Patients have found it a better way to receive chemotherapy. From the funding perspective it does not cost more than care in hospital."