There has been a marked increase in the demand for and provision of complementary therapies (CTs) in cancer supportive and palliative care. However, there is little service evaluation data to guide patients (in selecting a therapy), clinicians (in making referrals) and service commissioners (in developing services). This is unacceptable at a time of increasing pressure on resources, coupled with a healthcare policy agenda focused on ensuring that services are high quality, appropriately targeted and responsive to patients' needs1. Rigorous evaluation is therefore needed in order to: 1. Understand patients', service providers' and health professionals' perspectives on the purpose and expected outcomes of complementary therapies; 2. Identify whether a systematic approach exists to matching choice of intervention to patient's presenting symptoms and problems. Case study research permits study of complex phenomena, in context and using multiple data collection methods 2. Its benefits include that: it is well-suited to situations where multiple and potentially conflicting perspectives on the same phenomenon exist; it can permit comparison across services, to identify commonalities and contrasts; data collection is contemporary and involves little disturbance of the phenomenon studied. We will argue that case study research is a valuable approach that deserves wider consideration and will use an ongoing evaluation of complementary therapy service provision in three cancer care settings in North West England to illustrate how this approach can be applied and to outline key considerations when undertaking research of this type.

References
1 Department of Health The NHS Plan: A Plan for Investment, A Plan for Reform. London: The Stationery Office, 2000.
2 Yin RK Case Study Research New York, Sage, 1994.