This story was first published in digitalhealth.net
One stop cancer facility to be trialled in South Wales
Cynon Valley in Wales is trialling a new pilot aimed at significantly reducing the time taken to diagnose cancer.
The scheme will help identify whether patients, who are suspected of having the disease but do not exhibit obvious symptoms, have cancerous cells.
The news comes after widespread concern that patients often wait too long for a diagnosis because they show unclear symptoms which do not fit in with any particular treatment pathway. The result means too many patients start their treatments at a later stage, by which time the cancer has become advanced and is less treatable.
The initiative will enable 40 GPs in the Cynon Valley to refer those patients the suspect may have a cancer directly to a one-stop diagnostic centre at the Royal Glamorgan hospital in Llantrisant within seven days.
It is estimated this might involve about six patients each week - and they will receive an examination and different tests, hopefully all on the same day. Currently, only 35 per cent of all cancers diagnosed in the Cwm Taf area are with patients showing urgent ‘alarm’ symptoms.
The trials have been developed in the 12 months since experts from Wales returned from fact-finding visit to Aarhus, Denmark's second city.
Dr Gareth Davies, associate director of the Wales Cancer Network, commented: "If the GP sees a patient and is not exactly sure what's going on and has a sixth sense something is wrong, it will allow the GP to refer the patient straight into that clinic."
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