Search the hub
Showing results for tags 'Cancer'.
Found 547 results
-
News Article
Backlog of long cancer waits has doubled
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The backlog of patients who have been waiting for cancer treatment for more than 104 days has more than doubled since last year, according to internal NHS England papers seen by HSJ. At the start of February, the backlog of cases already at more than 15 weeks had hit 6,109, compared to 3,000 at the same point in 2020. National targets state cancer patients should be treated with 62 days of being referred. In the North West region, the backlog has nearly tripled over the same time period, from 289 to 831 (see regional breakdown below). Senior sources told HSJ the increase had been largely driven by acute providers in Greater Manchester and Merseyside. Cases in which patients have to wait more than 104 days for treatment are generally considered serious breaches, and typically trigger a process to identify if the delay has caused harm to the patient. Some local systems have declared a “zero tolerance” for such instances. The data in the papers is provisional. Michelle Mitchell, Cancer Research UK’s chief executive, said the impact of covid-19 on cancer patients has been “devastating”. She added: “The government must urgently make sure the NHS gets the funding it needs to increase cancer service capacity, and give every person with cancer the timely diagnosis and treatment they deserve.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 13 February 2021 -
Content ArticleWhile improving over time, the outcomes for lung cancer patients were already dramatically below those with other cancers before the pandemic. This report from the World Economic Forum, is designed to help governments, health systems, healthcare professionals and others to come together to: understand the effect of the pandemic on lung cancer care address the immediate impact of the pandemic on lung cancer services ensure their resilience in the longer term so that we can go further than ever before to improve patients’ outcomes.
-
News Article
Are women the fitter sex?
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
In a Channel 4 documentary, emergency doctor Dr Ronx asks why more men die of COVID-19? Cancer and HIV too. They also challenge many dangerous gender assumptions in medicine impacting on women's health. View documentary (6 days left) -
EventThe Professional Records Standard Body (PRSB) are holding a workshop on 4 March to help us develop a shared decision-making standard, so that individuals can be more involved in the decisions that affect their health, care and wellbeing. The online workshop will bring together health and care professionals, patients and system vendors to focus on different topics including diabetes and other long-term conditions, mental health, child health, gynaecology, colorectal cancer, genetic conditions, multi-medications and orthopaedics. We will be asking questions about the way information about treatment and care options are discussed and decisions recorded. This would include consent for treatment, when it is agreed, and any pre-operative assessments and requirements. By standardising the process, it will ensure that information can be shared consistently using any digital systems. If you’re interested in getting involved in the project, please contact info@theprsb.org
-
News Article
‘Catastrophic’ threat to cancer ops at England’s third largest hospital trust
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Cancer services at large hospital trust have been at ‘catastrophic’ risk of being overwhelmed, after two of its hospital sites had to suspend life-saving cancer surgeries in the last month due to COVID-19. In its latest board papers Mid and South Essex Foundation Trust rated the “cancellation of cancer elective activity” at its highest risk level of 25 – which based on their own risk-scoring key is “catastrophic”. It said the expected consequences at this risk level include “permanent disability or death, serious irreversible health effects” and an “unacceptable… quality of service”. The trust runs three general acute hospitals in the county. Its 2,000 plus beds make it the third largest trust in England after University Hospitals Birmingham FT and Leeds Teaching Hospitals. The same board papers, dated 28 January, said cancer surgery at Southend University Hospital, one of three hospital sites run by the trust, “ceased on 24 December”. At a second hospital site, Mid Essex Hospital covid “hit hard just before Christmas” and elective work was “dramatically impacted with short period of life and limb only carried out on site”. This meant all P2 cancer surgery — which requires treatment in less than four weeks — did not take place. Both hospital sites said they hoped the independent sector could help them restart cancer surgeries this month with a focus on “long waiting and clinical urgent patients”. It is not clear how much capacity the sector has to work through waiting lists and the board papers said “some of this capacity may be reduced” because of recent changes to a new national contract for the independent sector. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 29 January 2021 -
News ArticleThousands of women living in the UK suffering from an aggressive type of breast cancer could be helped by a newly identified drug, according to a study. The research, carried out by The Institute of Cancer Research, found medicine presently used to help other breast cancers that have spread to another area of the body, could actually be utilised to help around a fifth of women who have triple negative breast cancer. Around 55,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer in Britain each year, with approximately one in five of these being triple negative. Younger women and black women are more likely to develop this form of breast cancer which is generally more aggressive. Researchers’ realisation the drug palbociclib could be used far more widely than previously thought could “provide a much-needed targeted treatment” for those who are at higher risk of witnessing their cancer spread more quickly, becoming incurable and often unresponsive to conventional chemotherapy. Dr Simon Vincent, of Breast Cancer Now, a leading charity which funded the study, said: “It’s hugely exciting that this research has uncovered a new possible use for palbociclib as a targeted treatment for some women living with triple negative breast cancer." Read full story Source: The Independent, 28 January 2021
-
News Article
Cancer operations down 800 in first two weeks of January
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
There were 800 fewer cancer surgeries in the first two weeks of January than usually take place during the period, according to provisional data seen by HSJ. The bulk of this reduction came in London and the surrounding counties such as Essex, Bedfordshire, and Surrey. London and the south east have been severely hit by coronavirus pressures, causing widely reported mass cancellations of non-urgent elective surgery. However, the impact on cancer cases has, so far, been less clear. NHS England has insisted in the last week that urgent cancer cases should be given the same priority as coronavirus patients. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 25 January 2021 -
News Article
Care home worker cancer misdiagnosis
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A care home worker who was wrongly diagnosed with cancer said she thought it was a "cruel joke" when she was told doctors had made a mistake and she did not have cancer at all. Mum-of-four Janice Johnston said her "world crumbled" when she learned she had a rare form of blood cancer at Kent and Canterbury Hospital in 2017. She had 18 months of oral chemotherapy treatment, during which she experienced weight loss, nausea and bone pain, and had to give up her job as an auxiliary nurse. When the treatment did not appear to be working, she says, medics upped the dosage. In 2018, she sought alternative treatment at Guy's Hospital in London. It was there a specialist told her she did not have cancer at all but a different condition. Mrs Johnston was awarded £75,950 in damages after East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust admitted liability. Staff at the hospital had failed to do the necessary ultrasound scan and bone marrow biopsy before diagnosing her. Read full story Source: BBC News, 25 January 2021 -
EventCancer affects us all. Survival in England is at a record high and patients’ experience of treatment and care has never been higher, but we won’t stop there. We want every person with cancer to have the very best diagnosis, treatment and care. NHS England & Improvement The NHS Long Term Plan set out a clear pathway for the improvement of cancer care, the aim being: • Enable an extra 55,000 people each year to survive for five years or more following their cancer diagnosis. • Three in four cancers (75%) will be diagnosed at an early stage. This virtual conference aims to showcase the forward-thinking and innovative initiatives that are already being implemented across the country. Register
-
News Article
Discover the new technology managing cancer symptoms for patients
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
In a new trial, cancer patients across the UK have been using the eRAPID technology system to help them manage their cancer symptoms. The system has been developed by the University of Leeds, and this is the first trial to offer automated advice to early-stage patients whose treatment aims to cure cancer. Hundreds of early-stage colorectal, breast, or gynaecological cancer patients took part in the trial which used computer algorithms to help manage their symptoms and improve their wellbeing. They were able to report online symptoms from home and receive instant advice on whether to self-manage or seek medical attention. Cancer can cause a range of different symptoms for patients living with the disease, as well as from the side effects of treatments such as chemotherapy, which are sometimes life-threatening and all of which lower a patients’ quality of life. Better monitoring and management of these symptoms can help in improving treatment delivery and reducing patients’ physical distress. All patients in the trial received their usual care, with 256 receiving the eRAPID system as additional care. The patients reported better symptom control and physical wellbeing in the early weeks of treatment, with the system preventing symptom deterioration in about 9% of patients after 12 weeks. Dr Kate Absolom, University Academic Fellow in the Leeds Institute of Medical Research at St James’s and the Leeds Institute of Health Sciences at the University of Leeds, said: “The encouraging results from this study will help pave the way for future development and refinement of these interventions in broader cancer settings. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need and speeded a shift towards technology-enabled care, so these study results are very timely.” Programme lead Professor Galina Velikova, at the Leeds Institute of Medical Research at St James’s, University of Leeds, and the Leeds Cancer Centre, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “Rising numbers of cancer patients are receiving a range of anti-cancer treatments which means patients are living longer and require longer periods of care and monitoring. “Remote online monitoring options have the potential to be a patient-centred, safe, and effective approach to support patients during cancer treatment and manage the growing clinical workload for cancer care.” Read full story Source: Health Europa, 11 January 2021 -
News ArticleSmear-test delays during lockdown have prompted calls for home-screening kits. Cervical cancer screening has restarted across the UK - but some women say they will not attend their appointments for fear of catching Covid. Jo's Cervical Cancer Trust is urging "faster action" on home tests for HPV, which causes 99% of cervical cancers. An NHS official said GP practices should continue screening throughout lockdown, and "anyone invited for a cervical smear test should attend". Cancer Research UK said it was not yet known how effective and accurate self-sampling could be in cervical screening. A survey by gynaecological cancer charity the Eve Appeal indicates nearly one in three missed smear tests are the result of people being "put off" by coronavirus. And a Jo's Cervical Cancer Trust survey during the pandemic suggests the same proportion would prefer to take their own human-papillomavirus (HPV) test rather than go to a GP. Acting chief executive Rebecca Shoosmith said coronavirus had added "more barriers" to going for a smear test. "Sadly those who found it difficult before are likely to be no closer to getting tested," she said. "Self-sampling would be a game-changer." Both charities emphasise smear tests are for "women and anyone with a cervix" and transgender and non-binary people may have additional barriers to going. Jo's Cervical Cancer Trust said DIY tests could also help people who had been sexually assaulted and those with disabilities or from backgrounds where smear tests were taboo. Read full story Source: BBC News, 21 January 2021
-
News ArticleNHS bosses have instructed hospitals to keep performing urgent cancer surgery despite Covid pressures, after a growing number cancelled procedures because they did not have enough intensive care beds or available staff. They have told England’s regional directors of cancer to ensure treatment of people who need cancer surgery within four weeks gets the same priority as care of patients who have Covid. The move was unveiled in a letter, obtained by HSJ, sent last Friday by Amanda Pritchard, the chief operating officer at NHS England and NHS Improvement. It was also signed by Cally Palmer, the NHS’s national cancer director, and Prof Peter Johnson, a highly respected specialist who is the NHS’s national clinical director for cancer. They have acted after unease among cancer specialists that growing numbers of hospitals, including all those in London, had cancelled urgent operations. Hospitals have felt obliged to do so either because they did not have enough intensive care beds for patients who might need one after their cancer procedure or because surgical staff had been repurposed to help care for Covid patients. Doctors voiced alarm at the scale of recent postponements of what the NHS classes as “priority two” operations. That means they should be done within 28 days to ensure that someone with cancer does not see their disease spread or become inoperable because it was delayed. More than 1,000 cancer patients in London are now waiting to have “priority two” or “P2” urgent surgery, but none have been given a new date for when it will happen, HSJ reported last week. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 18 January 2021
-
News ArticleMore than 1,000 people needing urgent cancer surgery in London have no date for their treatment, HSJ can reveal. A document leaked to HSJ showed that, at the end of last week, more than 1,000 of London’s cancer surgery patients without an appointment date were defined as P2 (priority two), meaning they needed to be seen within four weeks or risk their condition worsening. The report seen by HSJ also showed more than 300 P2 patients had their surgery postponed in the past week, a statistic NHS England London has so far refused to disclose. Hospitals in the capital are facing their highest-ever COVID-19 occupancy rates, with surgical lists at many trusts being cancelled. Meanwhile, a separate NHSE London document reported in the press this week revealed: “Most NHS Green sites [those cancer surgery sites intended to be covid-free to avoid risk to very frail patients] are now compromised with only a limited number of cases being undertaken in NHS sites this week”. The papers also said the current plans to increase indepedent sector capacity usage were “insufficient to offset the NHS shortfall”, and noted there was a two week lead-in time to move patients into private hospitals “based on clinical rotas, theatre bookings, [and] patient isolation”. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 12 January 2021
-
News ArticlePotentially life-saving cancer operations have been put on hold at a major London NHS trust because of the number of beds taken by Covid patients. King's College Hospital Trust has cancelled all "Priority 2" operations - those doctors judge need to be carried out within 28 days. Cancer Research UK said such cancellations did not appear to be widespread across the country. And surgery has not been stopped on the same scale as during the first wave. Rebecca Thomas, who has had her bowel cancer surgery at King's College Hospital "cancelled indefinitely", told the BBC she felt like she had been left "in limbo". Until she has surgery her tumour cannot be studied to see how aggressive it is, and so she won't know until then how significant this wait will turn out to be. A spokesperson for the Trust, which mainly serves patients in south London, said: "Due to the large increase in patients being admitted with COVID-19, including those requiring intensive care, we have taken the difficult decision to postpone all elective procedures, with the exception of cases where a delay would cause immediate harm. "A small number of cancer patients due to be operated on this week have had their surgery postponed, with patients being kept under close review by senior doctors." Read full story Source: 5 January 2021
-
News Article
NHS plea for private help as covid forces cancer surgery cancellations
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
NHS leaders are holding fresh talks with private healthcare groups to try to secure surgery for urgent cancer patients in London, as the covid-19 second wave causes hospitals in the capital to make widespread cancellations, HSJ understands. In recent weeks, pivotal independent sector providers have declined to do the procedures for the payments on offer. In the spring covid peak, the NHS block-booked private capacity in London, but now only small, spot contracts are in place for this work. Under the previous deal, rules meant low-priority private patients could not be treated ahead of NHS patients who needed surgery urgently. But now providers can prioritise their private patients as they see fit. HSJ understands NHS England, under pressure from the Treasury, was not willing to pay the prices asked by the three private providers. As London NHS hospitals continue to fill with covid patients, particularly in critical care, they are able to do few cancer procedures beyond the most urgent category, P1, and are suspending many procedures in the lower categories, including P2, sources said. P2 is defined as patients who need treatment within four weeks. One senior clinical manager in the city told HSJ on Monday: “Cancellations [are] rife. We have stopped almost all operating in our elective hub apart from P1 [patients assessed as needing surgery within three days]. “The independent sector has not opened up capacity and lifestyle operations [are] still planned [in private hospitals].” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 5 January 2021 -
News Article
Cancer care under threat as NHS loses covid private sector back-up
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Cancer surgery in London is under threat as rising covid admissions put pressure on services that no longer have back-up capacity from the independent sector, HSJ has learned. Research by HSJ has discovered that NHS England ended contracts with HCA, The London Clinic and the Cromwell Hospital at the end of August, after concerns about underutilisation. Under the previous deal with the private sector, rules were in place to make sure low-priority private patients were not treated ahead of NHS patients who needed surgery urgently. HCA and The Cromwell have confirmed the contracts were ended in August and were not renewed. The London Clinic did not respond to a request for comment. As of 19 December, there were 2,909 covid inpatients being treated in London hospitals, a rise of 39% over the previous seven days. Barts Health Trust and Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Trust in the east of the city are under particular pressure. Should the number of covid patients reach a level that requires the capital to instigate surge protocols, theatre space set aside for cancer operations is likely to be commandeered. Under this scenario, the NHS in the capital would no longer have the option to transfer cancer patients to private facilities as it did during the first wave of the pandemic. A senior London-based source said: “This is a real and imminent threat to London’s ability to perform cancer surgery." Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 21 December 2020 -
News Article
Cancer waiting list has almost doubled, leak reveals
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The waiting list for cancer patients has almost doubled over the last seven months, according to internal NHS data which has never been made public. A slide set seen by HSJ suggests the total number of patients waiting for cancer treatment on the 62-day pathway has increased from around 90,000 in mid-May, to around 160,000 at the start of December. However, the data suggests the NHS has made good progress in treating patients waiting the longest. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 15 December 2020 -
Content ArticleFollowing Jeremy Hunt’s appointment as chancellor, HSJ is now hosting the Patient Safety Watch newsletter, written by Patient Safety Watch trustee James Titcombe. Read the latest newsletter: Patient Safety Watch: What can be done to improve duty of candour?
-
News Article
Cancer patient gets coronavirus after sharing ward with Covid sufferer
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A hospital has apologised after an elderly cancer patient tested positive for coronavirus, having been left in a ward with another patient suffering from COVID-19 for several days. The Aneurin Bevan University Health Board, which serves the Royal Gwent Hospital in Newport, Wales, has confirmed that it is dealing with an outbreak of the virus at the hospital. It comes after Lesley Pook accused the hospital of “locking” her father James ‘Jim’ Pook and others in a ward with a coronavirus patient and “waiting for them all to develop symptoms”. Read full story Source: The Independent, 9 December 2020 -
News Article
Delays freeze a third of lung cancer screening schemes
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Cancer screening programmes designed to save hundreds of lives have been delayed by up to a year as services struggle with staff and equipment shortages, HSJ can reveal. Of the 14 Lung Health Check Programme sites announced last year, four — or just under a third — have either halted programmes they had started or delayed beginning them, with some now expected not to be operational until after March. The areas chosen for the scheme activities, which often involved mobile computed tomography units in vans, have high rates of late diagnosis lung cancer. A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine in February showed CT scanning of high risk groups led to a 26% reduction in deaths in men and between a 39 and 61% reduction in women. NHS England confirmed “activity had resumed” in nine areas while one has started this month, meaning four areas remain out of action. The organisation declined to answer HSJ’s questions on which services were not running and why. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 1 December 2020 -
Content ArticleThis guide will support healthcare professionals to integrate prehabilitation services into the cancer pathway.
-
News ArticleA blood test designed to detect more than 50 types of cancer at an early stage will be trialled by the NHS. More than 165,000 people in England will be offered the tests from next year. If successful, the NHS hopes to expand it to 1m people from 2024. Sir Simon Stevens, NHS England chief executive, said early detection had the potential "to save many lives". While some welcomed the pilot, others cautioned the test was still untried and untested. Developing a blood test for cancer has been keeping scientists busy for many years without much success. Making one that's accurate and reliable has proved incredibly complex - the danger is that a test doesn't detect a person's cancer when they do have it, or it indicates someone has cancer when they don't. This test, developed by the Californian firm Grail, is designed to detect molecular changes in the blood caused by cancer in people with no obvious symptoms. As part of a large-scale pilot, also funded by the company, 140,000 participants aged between 50 and 79 will be asked to take the tests for the next three years. Another 25,000 people with possible cancer symptoms will also be offered testing after being referred to hospital in the normal way. Read full story Source: BBC News, 27 November 2020
-
News Article
Older women ‘less likely’ to be offered ovarian cancer treatment
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Older women could be less likely to receive ovarian cancer treatment. A new report analysed data from more than 17,000 cases of ovarian cancer diagnosed across England between 2016 and 2018. Three in five (60%) of women with ovarian cancer over the age of 79 did not receive either chemotherapy or surgery, while 37% of women over the age of 70 did not receive any treatment. The nature of ovarian cancer means surgery is essential in the large majority of cases to remove the tumour. The researchers cautioned that with an ageing population it is vital that women of all ages have access to the best possible treatments. Researchers also examined the various rates of treatments for ovarian cancer among women in different parts of England. They found the probability of receiving any treatment fell below the average in the East Midlands, the East of England, Greater Manchester and Kent and Medway. The report was jointly funded by The British Gynaecological Cancer Society, Ovarian Cancer Action, Target Ovarian Cancer and delivered by analysts at the National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service. Commenting on the report, Cary Wakefield, chief executive of Ovarian Cancer Action, said: "Neither your age nor location should decide your chance of survival if you are diagnosed with ovarian cancer." "Our audit is the first step in addressing the health inequalities women across England face, so we can begin to dismantle them." Read full story Source: The Independent, 11 November 2020 -
Content Article
Prostate Cancer UK: Best practice pathway
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Men's health
Developed to support healthcare professionals at the front line of prostate cancer diagnosis and care, Prostate Cancer UK's Best Practice Pathway uses easy to follow flowcharts to guide healthcare professionals deliver best practice diagnosis, treatment and support. It sets out how to achieve an early diagnosis in men at higher than average risk of the disease. It also supports use of the most up-to-date, cutting-edge research-led innovations - so that healthcare professionals are equipped and supported to provide the very latest evidence-based best practice to their patients. -
Content ArticleJoin a new study to help us understand why black men are at higher risk of prostate cancer. Prostate Cancer UK are funding the PROFILE study to help find out why black men are at higher risk of prostate cancer than other ethnic groups. The researchers are looking at the genes of healthy men at higher risk of prostate cancer, including men of African or Caribbean descent. Over five years, they’ll monitor the men for signs of developing prostate cancer, using blood tests and scans and biopsies. At the end of the study, the researchers hope to understand why certain men are more likely to get prostate cancer, and whether one day they could create tests to help spot these men earlier, based on their genes. By working towards catching prostate cancer sooner in high risk men, we can increase the chances of curing their prostate cancer. And by understanding more about why and how they develop prostate cancer, we could work towards treatments that stop this from happening. If you are a man of African or Caribbean descent aged 40-69 and haven’t had prostate cancer, you may be suitable to take part in a study that can help us understand more about the genetics of prostate cancer. Follow the link below for further information.
