Search the hub
Showing results for tags 'Cancer'.
Found 543 results
-
Content ArticleThis report represents the views of organisations and experts who responded to the Department of Health & Social Care's call for evidence on its Women's Health Strategy. The call for evidence was released in March 2021. This report focuses on submissions received from 436 organisations and individuals with expertise in women’s health, including the charity sector (34%), academia (22%), industry (10%), clinicians (7%), professional bodies (7%), pressure groups (7%), NHS organisations (3%), parliamentary groups (2%), royal colleges (1%), local government (1%), think tanks (1%) and others (6%).
-
Content ArticleIn patient experience research, participants frequently report the impact that mesothelioma has on their mental health yet there have been very few studies specifically focused on mental health and mesothelioma. In patient experience research, participants frequently report the impact that mesothelioma has on their mental health yet there have been very few studies specifically focused on mental health and mesothelioma. This new study from the Mesothelioma UK research centre aims to create an understanding of the impact of mesothelioma on the mental health of patients, their families and close friends, and what people do to improve their mental health and well-being.
-
Content ArticleThis webpage by the British Association of Dermatologists contains a selection of resources about skin cancer and sun safety for patients. it describes the different types of skin cancer, how to get moles checked and how to stay safe in the sun.
-
Content ArticleAn increasing number of cancer patients are using the internet to better understand their disease and connect with others facing the same challenges. Online cancer communities have developed into resources that highlight new research and evolving treatments. Combined with increasing health literacy and social media, they have enabled some patients to become experts in their cancer. This article in the journal JCO Oncology Practice examines the role of expert patients (e-patients) in advancing cancer medicine, and looks at opportunities available to those who wish to become more involved in research advocacy. The authors found that e-patients play a greater role in their own care and in larger conversations regarding practice, research, and policy. They highlight that clinicians can engage e-patients as partners in cancer care to work together towards improving healthcare access and outcomes for people with cancer.
-
Content ArticleThis report by the Health and Social Care Commons Select Committee examines why cancer outcomes in England remain behind other comparable countries. For example, 58.9% of people in England diagnosed with colon cancer will live for five years or more, compared to 66.8% in Canada and 70.8% in Australia. The report identifies key issues in early diagnosis, access to treatment, variation in services and research and innovation, and makes recommendations aimed at improving cancer survival rates in England.
-
Content ArticleThis article in the British Journal of General Practice aimed to develop a safety-netting intervention to reduce delays in cancer diagnosis in primary care. To develop the tool, patient representatives, GPs and nurse practitioners were invited to a series of co-design workshops. These workshops suggested the intervention format and content should incorporate visual and written communication specifying clear timelines for monitoring symptoms and when to present back. Participants also agreed that they needed to be available in paper and electronic forms, be linked to existing computer systems and be able to be delivered within a 10-minute consultation. The output of this process was the Shared Safety Net Action Plan (SSNAP), a safety-netting intervention to assist the timely diagnosis of cancer in primary care.
-
Content Article
The challenges of volunteering in the NHS
50 Diary posted an article in Workforce and resources
.png.f376e4249fc2956c30d362380dbfef7a.png)
In this blog, Imagen Gowan* writes about her experience of volunteering at a Macmillan Information & Support Centre at her local hospital. She explains what compelled her to start volunteering and what her role involves, as well as exploring some challenges that volunteers in the NHS face. She identifies the need for more training, and greater efforts to preserve morale and a sense of belonging amongst both staff and volunteers. -
Content Article500,000 immunocompromised people, who are at particularly high risk from Covid, live in the UK. Because their weakened immune systems meant they were less likely to have been protected by the first two doses of the Covid-19 vaccine than the general population, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation recommended they have a ‘third primary dose’ eight weeks after their second dose (whereas other groups were to get a booster six months after their second dose). But the complexity of this system meant that huge numbers of immunocompromised people were left waiting for a vaccine invitation that never came. In this blog for The King's Fund, Gemma Peters, Chief Executive of Blood Cancer UK, examines the challenges people with blood cancer and others with compromised immunity faced during the Covid-19 vaccine roll-out. She argues that NHS England must fix these issues by establishing a register of immunocompromised people and a reliable way of contacting them, tackling misinformation and publicly acknowledging the issues people with compromised immune systems have faced to date.
-
Content ArticleThis is the report and formal minutes of a House of Commons Public Accounts Committee session that examined the issues surrounding NHS backlogs and waiting times in England. The session particularly focused on accountability in how NHS England and the Department for Health and Social Care manage workforce and resources. At the end of December 2021, 6.07 million patients were waiting for elective care, the biggest waiting list since records began. Only 64% (3.87 million) of these patients had been waiting for less than 18 weeks, compared with the performance standard which requires 92% to have been waiting for less than 18 weeks. Similarly, in December 2021, only 67% of patients with an urgent referral for suspected cancer were treated within 62 days compared with a requirement for 85% to be treated within that time. The report highlights that although the Covid-19 pandemic had a significant effect on the backlog, NHS waiting time performance had declined steadily in the years before the pandemic.
-
Content ArticleThis report highlights the importance of embracing a culture of change in the design and delivery of women’s health to achieve national systems and local services fit to meet the expectations and needs of the 21st century woman. It describes the many failings of health services across the world whose default position is to treat women as second-class citizens and place unnecessary barriers to the delivery of high-quality accessible care. The report sets out recommendations, founded on common sense and rooted in the belief that women should be in control of their own bodies.
-
Content ArticleCancer Research UK’s latest analysis of NHS Digital cancer registration data uses the most complete recording to date of cancer rates by ethnicity in England, providing crucial data on how some cancer rates vary by ethnicity. The study found that although a small number of cancer sites have higher incidence rates in Asian, Black and Mixed/Multiple ethnic groups, for the majority of cancer sites these groups have a lower incidence than the White population. Differing prevalence of risk factors and access to/use of health services is likely to explain more of this variation than are genetic factors; if risk factor prevalence changes cancer rates may rise in minority ethnic groups, therefore action to address key risk factors and to improve the cancer experiences and outcomes of people in minority ethnic groups is vital. Improving the collection of ethnicity information in healthcare datasets will support a better understanding of differences in disease, as well as inequalities in cancer and where improvements in the health service can be made.
-
Content ArticleSkin cancer is one of the most common cancers worldwide, with one in five people in the US expected to receive a skin cancer diagnosis during their lifetime. Detecting and treating skin cancers early is key to improving survival rates. This blog for The Medical Futurist looks at the emergence of skin-checking algorithms and how they will assist dermatologists in swift diagnosis. It reviews research into the effectiveness of algorithms in detecting cancer, and examines the issues of regulation, accessibility and the accuracy of smartphone apps.
-
Content ArticleThe objective of this study from Carey et al. was to explore medical oncology outpatients' perceived experiences of errors in their cancer care. A cross-sectional survey was conducted. English-speaking medical oncology outpatients aged 18 years or older were recruited from 9 Australian cancer treatment centres. One hundred forty-eight participants perceived that an error had been made in their care, of which one third reported that the error was associated with severe harm. Of those who perceived an error had been made, less than half reported that they had received an explanation for the error and only one third reported receiving an apology or being told that steps had been taken to prevent the error from reoccurring. Patients with university or vocational level education and those who received radiotherapy or “other” treatments were significantly more likely to report an error in care. The authors concluded that here is significant scope to improve communication with patients and appropriate responses by the healthcare system after a perceived error in cancer care.
-
Content ArticleAlthough the direct effects of Covid-19 on children and young people are usually milder than for older age groups, the pandemic’s effect on the overall health and care of the youngest generation has nonetheless been extensive. This analysis from the Nuffield Trust looks at the impact Covid-19 has had on healthcare for children and young people. The review has looked at both physical and mental health services and come to the same conclusion - support has been badly disrupted and the plight of children overlooked.
-
Content ArticleWaiting is a feature of public healthcare systems but must be managed to avoid adverse impacts on patients. The NHS sets performance standards for waiting times for elective and cancer care. Its performance against these was deteriorating before the COVID-19 pandemic and has worsened since it began. Millions of patients’ care was disrupted, meaning backlogs increased. This report looks in detail at backlogs and waiting times for elective and cancer care in the NHS in England. It explains how the current increased backlogs and waiting times have arisen, including the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The report sets out: how waiting times performance for elective and cancer care are tracked in the NHS, and how long patients have been waiting relative to the performance standards; the causes of increasing longer waits before the pandemic and the disruption caused by the pandemic; and the steps the Department and NHSE&I have already taken to address the increasing backlogs and waiting times, and the constraints and challenges the NHS faces in making a full recovery.
-
Content ArticleThis e-book provides an extensive overview of the day-to-day challenges posed by antimicrobial resistance, tools for setting up stewardship programmes and guidance of how to make the most of existing programmes. Its resources apply the principles of antimicrobial stewardship to a wide range of professions, populations and clinical/care settings. It was published by the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy in collaboration with the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases.
-
Content Article
Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly being used in medicine to help with the diagnosis of diseases such as skin cancer. To be able to assist with this, AI needs to be ‘trained’ by looking at data and images from a large number of patients where the diagnosis has already been established, so an AI programme depends heavily upon the information it is trained on. This review, published in The Lancet Digital Health, looked at all freely accessible sets of data on skin lesions around the world. -
Content ArticleThis study in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology and Physics assesses the impact of the early Covid-19 pandemic on incident learning through evaluation of events reported to the Radiation Oncology Incident Learning System® (RO-ILS) in the USA. The authors conclude that reporting to RO-ILS declined during the early Covid-19 pandemic, especially in hotspot areas, suggesting that resources and time were diverted away from incident reporting to address other critical needs. However, three of the five top reporting practices that stopped reporting during early Covid have since reported events after the analysis timeframe, suggesting the decline may be temporary.
-
Content ArticleThe Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB) identified a patient safety risk caused by delays in diagnosing lung cancer. Lung cancer is the third most common cancer diagnosed in England, but accounts for the most deaths. Two-thirds of patients with lung cancer are diagnosed at an advanced stage of the disease when curative treatment is no longer possible, a fact which is reflected in some of the lowest five-year survival rates in Europe. Chest X-ray is the first test used to assess for lung cancer, but about 20% of lung cancers will be missed on X-rays. This results in delayed diagnosis that will potentially affect a patient’s prognosis. The HSIB investigation reviewed the experience of a patient who saw their GP multiple times and had three chest X-rays where the possible cancer was not identified. This resulted in an eight-month delay in diagnosis and potentially limited the patient’s treatment options.
-
Content ArticleGetting It Right First Time (GIRFT) is designed to improve the quality of care within the NHS by reducing unwarranted variations. By tackling variations in the way services are delivered across the NHS, and by sharing best practice between trusts, GIRFT identifies changes that will help improve care and patient outcomes, as well as delivering efficiencies such as the reduction of unnecessary procedures and cost savings.
-
Content ArticleClinical guidelines advise GPs in England which patients need urgent referral for suspected cancer. This study in BMJ Quality & Safety used linked primary care, secondary care and cancer registration data to assess: how often GPs follow the guidelines on cancer referral whether certain patients are less likely to be referred how many patients were diagnosed with cancer within one year of non-referral. The study included patients who presented for the first time with blood in the urine, breast lump, difficulty swallowing, iron-deficiency anaemia and post-menopausal or rectal bleeding during 2014–2015. The authors found that the majority of patients presenting with common possible cancer symptoms were not being referred by GPs in line with clinical guidelines. They also found that a significant number of these patients went on to develop cancer within a year, and suggest that improvement is needed in the cancer diagnosis process.
-
Content ArticleThe pandemic has severely disrupted cancer services in England with major consequences for survival rates for lung, breast and colorectal cancer. This paper from the Institute for Public Policy Research examines the impact of the pandemic on cancer pathways, highlighting widespread disruption across screening, referrals, diagnostic and treatment services. The authors also highlight that the 'missing patient' backlog is difficult to predict and that there is a lack of qualified staff to increase capacity and aid service recovery.
-
Content Article
Mesothelioma UK Research Centre: Mesothelioma and gender video
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Cancers
Mesothelioma UK has published a short animation on gender differences in experiences of mesothelioma to help support professionals The GEMS study aims to explore the experiences of men and women with mesothelioma, their family carers as well as the various staff they meet. It seeks to understand why any differences that are identified occur. Their goal is to establish with participants how services should best be delivered to be accessible and acceptable to both men and women. The full report can be accessed here. -
Content ArticleThis report from Macmillan Cancer Support takes stock of how far the UK’s health and care services still need to go on integration for high-quality, personalised cancer care to be a reality for everyone. The analysis suggests there are four key dimensions to personalised, integrated cancer care that need to be addressed: everyone with cancer can access personalised, joined-up care; people with cancer are supported by health and care professionals consistently working together; people with cancer receive personalised, integrated care across services provided by different parts of the system; and services are designed, commissioned and funded around the goal of personalised, integrated cancer care.
-
Content ArticleThe ongoing impact of COVID-19 on health services across Europe has in most cases led to significant reductions in cancer screening, testing and diagnosis. The resultant delays in diagnosis are impacting cancer treatment and survival and are likely to do so for many years to come. Responses in individual countries and for individual tumour groups have differed, but there are common challenges in all countries. Some solutions go above and beyond the obvious actions that all countries are taking, and there are examples of how the system has reacted so far that provides the basis for further discussion on building lasting resiliency into healthcare systems and preparing for post-pandemic recovery. This report, published by IQVIA, highlights some of the approaches already being taken, as well as suggestions for what should be done going forward. It considers different stakeholders – from local pharmacies to national and international organisations – and their roles, as well as multi-stakeholder collaboration and cooperation. It aims to highlight initiatives adopted in some countries that can be shared more widely.
.png.f376e4249fc2956c30d362380dbfef7a.png)
