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Found 545 results
  1. News Article
    Drug that can halve breast cancer risk offered to 289,000 women in England Anastrozole to be made available to women who have been through the menopause and have family history of breast cancer Almost 300,000 women at higher risk of developing breast cancer are being given access to a drug that can halve their risk in a “major step forward” in the fight against the disease. An estimated 289,000 women in England who are at moderate or high risk of breast cancer will from Tuesday be able to take the tablet to try to prevent it from developing, NHS bosses said. The drug, anastrozole, is being made available to women who are in greater danger because they have been through menopause and have a major family history of Britain’s commonest form of cancer. It displays “remarkable” potential to reduce the number of people who go on to develop the disease, the head of the NHS said last night. Every year, around 56,000 women in the UK are diagnosed with breast cancer – about 150 a day. While survival rates have improved, it still claims about 11,500 lives each year. “It’s fantastic that this vital risk-reducing option could now help thousands of women and their families avoid the distress of a breast cancer diagnosis,” said Amanda Pritchard, NHSC England’s chief executive. The drug will be taken as a 1mg tablet once a day for five years. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 7 November 2023
  2. Content Article
    The National Patient Safety Improvement Programmes (SIPs) collectively form the largest safety initiative in the history of the NHS. They support a culture of safety, continuous learning and sustainable improvement across the healthcare system. SIPs aim to create continuous and sustainable improvement in settings such as maternity units, emergency departments, mental health trusts, GP practices and care homes. SIPs are delivered by local healthcare providers working directly with the National Patient Safety Improvement Programmes Team and through 15 regionally-based Patient Safety Collaboratives. The five National Patient Safety Improvement Programmes (NatPatSIP) are as follows: Managing Deterioration Safety Improvement Programme (ManDetSIP) Maternity and Neonatal Safety Improvement Programme (MatNeoSIP) Medicines Safety Improvement Programme (MedSIP) Adoption and Spread Safety Improvement Programme (A&S-SIP) Mental Health Safety Improvement Programme (MH-SIP) This report summarises the progress of the National Patient Safety Improvement Programmes.
  3. News Article
    A private health company paid millions by the NHS has failed to fix safety defects that led to the death of a cancer patient, the Guardian can reveal. Three patients were hospitalised and a fourth died when they were given the wrong doses of a powerful chemotherapy drug after a catastrophic IT failure at the medicine manufacturing unit of Sciensus in April this year. The incident, first revealed by the Guardian in July, prompted an investigation by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). Its inspectors found “significant deficiencies” at the Sciensus manufacturing facilities and ordered the partial suspension of its manufacturing licence. However, six months after the IT blunder, Sciensus has not fixed the problems identified by the regulator, according to people familiar with the matter. As a result, the suspension of its licence – originally due to be lifted last month – has been extended until July next year. Sciensus is the UK’s biggest provider of medicines services to NHS and private patients at home. It is contracted by the NHS and other organisations to deliver and administer medicines to more than 200,000 people with conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, dementia, HIV and cancer. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 5 November 2023
  4. News Article
    Women affected by a review of cervical smears in the Southern Health Trust have said they are "angry, frustrated and scared" for their future. About 17,500 patients in the trust are to have their previous smears re-checked as part of a major review of cervical screening dating back to 2008. Some of these women will be recalled to have new smear tests carried out. But the process has not started yet and will take at least six months to complete. Letters were sent out by the trust earlier this month to those affected. The Southern Trust says it expects to recall around 4,000 women for a new smear test after it reviews 17,368 historic slides. The Trust's medical director, Dr Steve Austin, told its board meeting that the review of slides was expected to start next week. It also emerged that the number of calls from concerned women has increased with many asking for more "specialist" answers. Read full story Source: BBC News, 27 October 2023
  5. News Article
    Thousands of patients in England and Northern Ireland are missing out on a life-extending prostate cancer drug that is more widely available on the NHS in Scotland and Wales, say experts. Charity Prostate Cancer UK said it was "unacceptable" that men in parts of the UK were facing a postcode lottery. Although not a cure, abiraterone can help stop prostate cancer spreading to other parts of the body. NHS England said it would review the drug's use for more men next year. Read full story Source: BBC News, 23 October 2023
  6. News Article
    A mother of two prescribed antidepressants after complaining of fatigue was devastated when she learned she had stage four bowel cancer and had just nine months to live. Helen Canning complained of anaemia and low energy for more than a year, but as a 37-year-old with two children under the age of five, her symptoms were put down to prolonged postnatal depression and work stress. “At the end of the school day, I’d sit at my desk and lose half an hour of my time just sitting and staring,” the A-level science teacher from Suffolk said. “I was so tired. Then I would get even more stressed because I was getting behind on my work.” She went to the GP because she was concerned about her symptoms. Despite being told her iron was low, she said she was never offered a blood test to investigate this further. As well as prescribing antidepressants, the GP referred her to a gynaecologist for an ultrasound scan on her left side in December 2020, but the scan did not detect anything. But less than a year later in August 2021, she was diagnosed with bowel cancer after she was rushed into A&E with a “crippling, stabbing pain” and violent vomiting, the night before her ninth wedding anniversary. She was told she had advanced colorectal cancer, a primary tumour in the right side of her colon, with secondary growths on her ovaries, liver, and peritoneum. Though Mrs Canning was given only nine months to live after her diagnosis, the mother of two leaned on her family for strength as she started chemotherapy. It has now been over two years and she continues to fight. Now she is determined to raise awareness of the common signs and symptoms of bowel cancer, and urges people to “know their own ‘normal’ and not be afraid to keep pushing for further testing and answers when doctors don’t”. Read full story Source: Independent, 22 October 2023
  7. News Article
    A woman has spoken of her "complete shock" at being misdiagnosed with cancer and undergoing surgery when she never had the condition at all. Megan Royle, 33, from East Yorkshire, was diagnosed with skin cancer in 2019. As part of her treatment, she underwent immunotherapy and her eggs were frozen due to the risk to her fertility. But after she was given the all-clear in 2021, a review showed she never had cancer and she has now won compensation from the two NHS trusts involved. Ms Royle, from Beverley, said: "You just can't really believe something like this can happen, and still to this day I've not had an explanation as to how and why it happened. "I spent two years believing I had cancer, went through all the treatment, and then was told there had been no cancer at all." "You'd think the immediate emotion would be relief and, in some sense, it was - but I'd say the greater emotions were frustration and anger." Read full story Source: BBC News, 18 October 2023
  8. News Article
    About 17,500 women in Northern Ireland are to have their smear tests re-checked as part of a major review of cervical screening dating back to 2008. Some of these women will be recalled to have new smear tests carried out, BBC News NI can reveal. The Southern Trust said that the women affected should receive letters by post from Tuesday. It follows a highly critical report commissioned by the Royal College of Pathologists (RCPath). It found: Several cytology staff were "significantly underperforming". Mechanisms to check their work were flawed. Action taken by management was inadequate over many years. While a majority of negative results issued by the laboratory were correct, a "significant number" of these would likely have been identified as "potentially abnormal" by other laboratories. Read full story Source: BBC News, 9 October 2023
  9. News Article
    The impact of successive doctors’ strikes is now ‘causing significant disruption and risk to patients’, including to those needing urgent heart and cancer treatment, NHS England leaders have told the BMA in their strongest warnings yet. A letter to the union’s council chair on Tuesday evening, leaked to HSJ, said: “We are increasingly concerned that the cumulative impact of this action is causing significant disruption and risk to patients… “We are extremely concerned that Christmas Day cover is insufficient to ensure appropriate levels of patient safety are being maintained across local health systems. This is particularly the case in the current period of industrial action, with three consecutive Christmas Day levels of service.” Although Christmas Day includes cover for emergency care, the officials said that in practice – with demand above Christmas Day levels, and with successive days and repeated strikes – it was not protecting patients needing urgent care. The letter, signed by NHSE leaders including chief medical officer Sir Steve Powis, and chief nurse Dame Ruth May, goes on: “Secondly, we are becoming increasingly concerned that combined periods of industrial action are impacting on our ability to manage individuals who require time-sensitive urgent treatment, for example cardiac, cancer or cardiovascular patients, or women needing urgent caesarean sections.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 3 October 2023
  10. Content Article
    Women interact with cancer in complex ways, as healthy individuals participating in cancer prevention, as patients, as health professionals, researchers, policymakers, and as unpaid caregivers. In all these domains, women often are subject to overlapping forms of discrimination, such as due to age, race, ethnicity and socio-economic status, that render them structurally marginalised. These myriad factors can restrict a woman’s rights and opportunities to avoid cancer risks, are a barrier to diagnosis and quality cancer care, maintain an unpaid caregiver workforce that is predominantly female, and hinder women’s professional advancement.
  11. News Article
    A cancer patient with months to live has spoken of her fear and anger after chemotherapy was delayed by this week’s strikes. Flora White, 51, began chemotherapy last month, which is required fortnightly to shrink a tumour so it can be surgically removed. But it has now been set back, after the appointment she was due to have with her oncologist the day before was cancelled as a result of strikes. Ms White said that until she got the devastating news about her own delays she had thought cancer patients would be protected from the impact of industrial action. “It’s hard to deal with as it is, let alone the extra worry and stress,” she said. “Your treatment being cancelled and delayed, they don’t understand how they’re affecting some people.” Earlier this week, Prof Karol Sikora, a leading consultant oncologist, said it was “against the ethics of medicine” for doctors to strike, as he urged medics to think again. “If you miss cancer and someone goes for another two years without a diagnosis, it’s as good as leaving someone in the gutter bleeding ... people will die,” he said. Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Telegraph, 21 September 2023
  12. Content Article
    In a world where most people wake up with the sun and head to their ‘9 to 5’, night shift work can be a challenge – but can it also be bad for your health? What do those health effects mean for your risk of cancer? Can working night shifts cause cancer? Worldwide Cancer Research presents the evidence.
  13. Event
    until
    Public Policy Projects is holding a roundtable "Improving access to genomic testing and medicine for better outcomes and reduced inequalities" on the 20th September from 10:30am to 12pm on Zoom. This session will be chaired by Parker Moss, Chief Commercial & Partnerships Officer at Genomics England, and will seek to explore how genomic technologies can be better utilised, and how services can be appropriately coordinated, to ensure that emerging technology can be used as a tool for reducing inequalities and bettering the overall standard of care for cancer patients in the NHS. The hosts are looking for individuals from Cancer Alliances, ICB, Genomic Laboratory Hubs, Cell Pathology Centres, and Clinical Diagnostic Centres to attend and share their experiences and views at this session. Find out more and register to attend
  14. News Article
    Women are being unnecessarily alarmed about their risk of breast cancer by consumer genetic test results that do not take family history into account, researchers have said. Women who discover outside a clinical setting that they carry a disease-causing variant of the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes may be told that their risk of breast cancer is 60-80%. But analysis of UK Biobank data suggests the risk could be less than 20% for those who do not have a close relative with the condition. Dr Leigh Jackson, of the University of Exeter’s medical school, who is the lead author of the analysis published in the journal eClinical Medicine, said that in extreme cases this could result in women unnecessarily undergoing surgery. “Being told you are at high genetic risk of disease can really influence levels of fear of a particular condition and the resulting action you may take,” he said. “Up to 80% risk of developing breast cancer is very different from 20%.” Until recently, women who received BRCA results did so because they had attended clinic due to symptoms or a family history of disease. However, an increasing number are now learning of their genetic risk after paying for home DNA testing kits or taking part in genetic research, without ever having any personal link with breast cancer. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 15 September 2023
  15. Content Article
    To mark this year’s World Patient Safety Day (WPSD), the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd) will be running a series of blogs and Talking Heads on key surgical and dental topics in this area. These have been provided by patients, families and carers, alongside members of the College’s Patient Safety Group, College Council and the wider College fellowship. The College’s eleven Surgical Specialty Boards (SSBs) have been asked to provide blogs on how patient involvement in their individual specialty has helped to drive up standards of care. The blogs will provide examples of how patients and carers can play vital roles in making decisions about their own individual care and also how they can enhance the safety of the healthcare system as a whole by contributing to strategic decisions at organisational level. Two blogs will be released on each day of the College’s week-long WPSD campaign, starting on Monday 11 September and leading up to WPSD on Sunday 17 September. Members and Fellows will have access to these through the College website following the campaign.
  16. Content Article
    The number of under-50s worldwide being diagnosed with cancer has risen by nearly 80% in three decades, according to the largest study of its kind. Global cases of early onset cancer increased from 1.82 million in 1990 to 3.26 million in 2019, while cancer deaths of adults in their 40s, 30s or younger grew by 27%. More than a million under-50s a year are now dying of cancer, the research reveals. Experts are still in the early stages of understanding the reasons behind the rise in cases. The authors of the study, published in BMJ Oncology, say poor diets, alcohol and tobacco use, physical inactivity and obesity are likely to be among the factors. “Since 1990, the incidence and deaths of early onset cancers have substantially increased globally,” the report says. “Encouraging a healthy lifestyle, including a healthy diet, the restriction of tobacco and alcohol consumption and appropriate outdoor activity, could reduce the burden of early onset cancer.”
  17. News Article
    An NHS body is encouraging women with breast cancer from minority backgrounds to take part in more clinical trials, after research found they are under-represented in studies that can offer life-saving treatment. The pilot project, supported by the NHS Race and Health Observatory, is intended to improve representation in breast cancer clinical trials partly through culturally sensitive communications to people from racially diverse backgrounds. Research from the UK Health Security Agency suggests young black women are more likely to have aggressive breast cancer tumours, experience poorer care and have higher mortality rates, but are significantly under-represented in clinical research. Their lack of inclusion in trials could be partly down to distrust of the research process and a lack of knowledge, according to research by the UK’s National Institute for Health Research. The project, which works in conjunction with Macmillan Cancer Support and the pharmaceutical company Roche, will run for a year and look at developing new ways for people with breast cancer to access clinical trials. It will develop action plans to improve representation and provide enhanced support for patients. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 31 August 2023
  18. News Article
    Top young cancer researchers are leaving the UK in a “brain drain” fuelled by the continuing failure to reach an agreement over the EU’s study programme, scientists warn. The two-and-a-half-year delay in joining the £85bn Horizon Europe scheme, the largest collaborative research programme in the world, has “damaged the UK’s reputation” and made it more difficult to attract and retain the brightest researchers into the nation’s labs. Cancer Research UK (CRUK) surveyed 84 cancer specialists about Horizon Europe and found that three-quarters of respondents favoured association with the programme compared with only 11% who wanted the UK to go it alone with the government’s plan B, known as Pioneer. Prof Julian Downward, head of the Oncogene Biology Lab at the Francis Crick Institute in London, said: “We need Horizon Europe very badly. The current situation is damaging UK science every day. We are losing top junior faculty regularly who decide to move to EU countries so they can take up European Research Council grants.” Read full story Source: Guardian, 25 August 2023
  19. News Article
    Thousands of people referred for urgent cancer checks every month are set to be diagnosed and treated sooner, as the NHS reforms its cancer standards to reflect what matters most to patients and to align with modern clinical practice. Developed by clinical experts and supported by leading cancer charities, there will be three cancer standards, which combine all of the previous standards and cover additional patients: the 28-Day Faster Diagnosis Standard (FDS) which means patients with suspected cancer who are referred for urgent cancer checks from a GP, screening programme or other route should be diagnosed or have cancer ruled out within 28 days. the 62-day referral to treatment standard which means patients who have been referred for suspected cancer from any source and go on to receive a diagnosis should start treatment within 62 days of their referral. the 31-day decision to treat to treatment standard which means patients who have a cancer diagnosis, and who have had a decision made on their first or subsequent treatment, should then start that treatment within 31 days. GPs will still refer people with suspected cancer in the same way, but the focus will rightly be on getting people diagnosed or cancer ruled out within 28 days, rather than simply getting a first appointment. The three agreed standards will come into effect from October. Read full story Source: NHS England, 17 August 2023
  20. News Article
    The Government must provide the health service with more support to fulfil its ambition of extending healthy life expectancy and reducing premature death, an expert has warned. It comes after the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) published an interim report on its Major Conditions Strategy, a 5-year blueprint to help manage six disease groups more effectively and tackle health inequality. The groups are cancer, cardiovascular disease – including stroke and diabetes – musculoskeletal conditions, chronic respiratory diseases, mental health conditions and dementia. The Government said the illnesses "account for over 60% of ill health and early death in England", while patients with two or more conditions account for about 50% of hospital admissions, outpatient visits, and primary care consultations. By 2035, two-thirds of adults over 65 are expected to be living with two or more conditions, while 17% could have four or more. Sally Gainsbury, Nuffield Trust senior policy analyst, said the Government is right to focus on the six conditions, but "will need to shift more of its focus towards primary prevention, early diagnosis, and symptom management". She added: "What's less clear is how Government will support health and care systems to do this in the context of severe pressures on staff and other resources, as well as a political culture that tends to place far more focus on what happens inside hospitals than what happens in community healthcare services, GP practices and pharmacies. This initiative is both long overdue and its emphasis has shifted over time. The Major Conditions Strategy is being developed in place of a White Paper on health inequalities originally promised over 18 months ago." Read full story Source: Medscape, 16 August 2023
  21. News Article
    Patients with cancer symptoms could bypass their GP in the future and go straight for a scan, the health secretary has suggested, in the latest “radical” attempt by the government to cut huge NHS waiting lists. The suggestion, which comes as the government is expected to reduce the number of NHS cancer waiting time targets, could form part of proposals to “design out bottlenecks” in the NHS system, Steve Barclay said in an interview. Health department officials are reportedly working on proposals that would mean some patients experiencing cancer symptoms could go straight to an NHS diagnostic centre – or “one-stop shop” – without a GP referral. “We are very much looking at those patient pathways,” Barclay told the Daily Telegraph. “Where there are bottlenecks in the system of referral from the GP, is there scope to go direct to the relevant diagnostic test or to the clinician? Breast cancer is a good example because almost always the GP refers on … and therefore there’s an opportunity to design out bottlenecks in the system.” Read full story Source: Guardian, 16 August 2023
  22. News Article
    At-home smear tests should be introduced in Wales, campaigners say. Love Your Period campaigners said self-sampling at home would encourage more people to have the tests. For women aged 25 to 64 a smear test is an effective way of detecting human papillomavirus (HPV) and preventing cervical cancer. According to Public Health Wales data, cervical cancer is the most common cancer in women under the age of 35, with regular screening helping to reduce the risk of getting cervical cancer by 70%. The Welsh government said it followed advice from the UK National Screening Committee (UKNSC), which is yet to make a recommendation on self-sampling. However, it said Public Health Wales (PHW) was considering how the tests could be implemented in Wales. Currently, women in Wales are invited for a screening to check for the presence of high-risk HPV every five years. Campaigner Jess Moultrie said tests should be made available to those who have experienced trauma and find the process of in-hospital smears triggering. "Being able to do it at home gives you that power, you can be a little bit more relaxed, it's not as intimidating." Read full story Source: BBC News, 14 August 2023
  23. News Article
    Two-thirds of NHS cancer waiting time targets are expected to be scrapped in England, in a move the health service says aims to catch cancers earlier. NHS bosses want to reduce the number of targets, most of which have been routinely missed in recent years, from nine to three. They say the plan is backed by leading cancer experts and will simplify the "outdated" standards. But some are concerned about the move. Pat Price, oncologist, visiting professor at Imperial College London and Head of the charity Radiology UK, said current performance was "shockingly bad", and while too many targets could be disruptive, "the clear and simple truth is that we are not investing enough in cancer treatment capacity". Read full story Source: BBC News, 14 August 2023
  24. Content Article
    This summary guide pulls together best practice to support NHS clinicians to better meet the Faster Diagnosis Standard for cancer. Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) and NHS England’s Cancer Programme have worked in partnership to produce this guidance, which outlines how cancer alliances and local organisations can implement NHS England’s best practice timed diagnostic pathways for cancer. The guidance includes advice for all stages of a cancer diagnosis, from early identification of patients to onward referral, as well as useful insights from the relevant GIRFT national clinical leads and links to best practice case studies. This edition has a particular focus on colorectal cancer, prostate cancer and skin cancer.
  25. News Article
    Despite regular MRI scans at the Royal Preston Hospital showing that the tumour was growing, May Ashford was not offered surgery until five years later. A woman died unnecessarily after doctors failed to operate soon enough on a growing brain tumour, according to the health complaints service. May Ashford, from Blackpool, was diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2010 after experiencing headaches and seizures. Despite regular MRI scans at the Royal Preston Hospital showing that the tumour was growing, she was not offered surgery until five years later. An investigation by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) said the treatment was too late as medical staff had failed to monitor the scan results properly. Medical experts said Mrs Ashford should have been operated on at least three years earlier, before the tumour had time to grow and affect the surrounding area of the brain. She tragically died aged 71 from a stroke following surgery. Link to full article here
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