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Showing results for tags 'Tests / investigations'.
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News ArticleWomen aged 70 or over are receiving substandard care to tackle ovarian cancer with one in five patients in their seventies getting no treatment whatsoever, a new study has found. A report from Ovarian Cancer Action revealed almost half of patients in their 70s do not undergo surgery to treat the disease, even though it provides the best long-term prognosis for one of the most common types of cancer in women. In total, around one in five (22%) of ovarian cancer patients aged 70 to 79 and three in five women with ovarian cancer who were over 80 years old were given no treatment for th
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Smear tests: Women to trial 'do-it-at-home' kits for NHS
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
About 31,000 women in London are being offered "do-it-at-home" tests to check for early warnings of cervical cancer, as part of an NHS trial. It could be a way to encourage more women to get screened, experts hope. Embarrassment, cultural barriers and worries about Covid, along with many other factors, can stop women going for smear tests at a clinic or GP surgery. Smear-test delays during the pandemic prompted calls for home-screening kits from cervical cancer charities. The swabbing involves using a long, thin cotton bud to take a sample from inside the vagina, which is then s -
News Article
CT scan catches 70% of lung cancers at early stage, NHS study finds
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Thousands of lives could be saved if people at risk of developing Britain’s deadliest cancer were screened to diagnose it before it becomes incurable, a major NHS study has found. Giving smokers and ex-smokers a CT scan uncovers cancerous lung tumours when they are at an early enough stage so they can still be removed, rather than continuing to grow unnoticed, it shows. Experts are demanding the government moves to bring in routine CT scanning of smokers and ex-smokers in order to cut the huge death toll from lung cancer. About 48,000 people a year are diagnosed with the disease in t -
News ArticleNearly 500 women had to have their cervical smear tests redone after it emerged the nurse who carried them out was not qualified. 'Dishonest' Alison Watts failed to tell her bosses at an NHS surgery that she failed her course and continued screening women for almost two and a half years. When it was discovered Watts had not passed the qualification, 461 women had to be recalled to have the cervix test again so they could have 'quality assured' tests. Now Watts has been struck off for the shocking breach of trust, with a tribunal ruling that she put patients at 'significant risk
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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 ac
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The Patients Association: Get involved – diagnostic tests and results
Patient Safety Learning posted a calendar event in Community Calendar
untilAre you a patient who has been waiting to receive a diagnosis or test results during the last six months? This includes, but is not limited to, CT scans, MRI scans, and endoscopy and dermatology procedures. Has the COVID-19 pandemic affected your service? Would you like to help to improve the patient experience of waiting for a diagnosis? The Patients Association is holding an online Zoom patient group discussion on this topic on Tuesday 27th October, 2.00-4.00pm, and we are seeking patients to take part. An £80 incentive payment will be offered in Amazon vouchers and places are limite -
Content ArticleWithin the letter Jeremy Hunt calls for: Recognition that many Long COVID patients were not hospitalised. Guidance on treatment, management of symptoms and on rehabilitation support to 111 and 119 advisers, GPs and all clinical staff in frontline services and is essential for the delivery of quality care, and to end the dismissive attitudes reported by far too many people with Long COVID when they attempt to access health services. A multi-disciplinary Long Covid taskforce, including researchers, professional bodies, and representatives of peer-led groups, to address the urg
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Patients' access to vital NHS tests delayed by warehouse failure
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Doctors are being told to "think carefully" before ordering any tests for their patients, amid shortages caused by a supply chain failure at a major diagnostics company. Swiss pharmaceutical firm Roche said problems with a move to a new warehouse had led to a "very significant" drop in its processing capacity. A spokesman said COVID-19 tests would be prioritised, but the backlog could affect tests including for cancer and heart disease. One NHS trust in the south west has already advised its GPs to stop all non-urgent blood tests. A memo seen by the BBC, sent to clinicians -
Community PostI've been posting advice to patients advising them to personally follow up on referrals. Good advice I believe, which could save lives. I'm interested in people's views on this. This is the message I'm sharing: **Important message for patients relating to clinical referrals in England** We need a specific effort to ensure ALL referrals are followed up. Some are getting 'lost'. I urge all patients to check your referral has been received, ensure your GP and the clinical team you have been referred to have the referral. Make sure you have a copy yourself too. Things
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News ArticlePeople awaiting a CT or MRI scan will be able to have one on the high street under NHS plans to improve access to diagnostic tests. NHS England plans to set up a network of new “one-stop shops” where patients will be able to have scans closer to home rather than having to go hospital. They are intended to reduce the risk of patients getting COVID-19 in hospital and speed up the time it takes to undergo diagnostic testing by having more capacity. NHS England’s governing board approved a plan on Thursday by Prof Sir Mike Richards to create “community diagnostic hubs across the country
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Leaked data gives first view of growing cancer waiting list post covid peak
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Official data from mid-September shows that nearly 6,400 people had waited more than 100 days following a referral to cancer services. The leaked data reveals for the first time the length of the cancer waiting list in the wake of the first pandemic peak, during which much diagnostic and elective cancer care was paused. The list consists of those waiting for a test, the outcome of a test, or for treatment. NHS England and Improvement only publish waiting times for patients who have been treated – not the number still waiting – so this information has been secret. The data, obtai -
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News ArticleInquest finds Susan Warby, 57, received insulin she did not need after blood test mistakes. Hospital errors contributed to her death five weeks after bowel surgery, an inquest into her death has concluded. Susan Warby, 57, who died at West Suffolk hospital in Bury St Edmunds, was incorrectly given glucose instead of saline through an arterial line that remained in place for 36 hours and resulted in inaccurate blood test readings. She was subsequently given insulin she did not need, causing bouts of extremely low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) and the development of “a brain injury of uncertai
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Hospital has 'closed its doors' to patients, LMC warns NHS England
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
GP leaders have written to NHS England to demand that an NHS hospital trust urgently restores routine referrals as it has 'closed its doors' to some patients, ‘destabilising’ practices in the process. Oxfordshire LMC said local GPs are ‘concerned and angry’ about the ‘ongoing closure’ to routine referrals across multiple ‘high-demand’ specialties by Oxford University Hospital Foundation Trust, while warning GPs are also being asked to carry out tests that should be done in hospital. A ‘significant’ number of specialties are affected, including ENT, general gynaecology, dermatology, -
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News ArticleA sponge-on-a-string pill test could transform the way oesophageal cancer is diagnosed, researchers say. The method can identify 10 times more people with Barrett’s oesophagus than the usual GP route, scientists say. The test, which can be carried out by a nurse in the GP surgery, is also better at picking up abnormal cells and potentially early-stage cancer. Barrett’s oesophagus is a condition that can lead to oesophageal cancer, cancer of the food pipe, in a small number of people. Normally it is diagnosed in hospital by endoscopy, which involves passing a camera down into the stom
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Winter warning as 35,000 respiratory diagnoses delayed due to pandemic
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Patients with respiratory disease have been overlooked during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the NHS storing up problems for the winter months, a group of experts including the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) has warned. Analysis by the 34-member Taskforce for Lung Health showed that referrals for lung conditions fell by 70% in April, with two-in-five (39%) of CCGs seeing no appointment bookings for respiratory conditions for the whole of May. On average, the group calculated a weekly average of 3,399 lung patients missing out on urgent and routine referrals during the COV -
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Millions of patients 'avoiding calls to GP' during COVID-19 pandemic
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Four in ten people are not seeking help from their GP because they are afraid to be a burden on the NHS during the pandemic, polling by NHS England reveals. The findings – from a survey of 1,000 people – are the latest in a wave of evidence that fewer people are seeking care for illnesses other than those related to coronavirus during the pandemic. GP online reported on 20 April that data collected by the RCGP showed a 25% reduction in routine clinical activity in general practice, and figures from Public Health England (PHE) and the British Heart Foundation show that A&E attenda -
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Testing for coronavirus: what is being done in the UK?
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Who is being tested for coronavirus in the UK? As of last week, when the Prime Minister announced Britain was no longer in the “contain” phase of the pandemic, most testing outside of hospitals stopped. People with symptoms are expected to self-isolate but will not know whether they have COVID-19. That means they will not know if they are immune or still at risk – and a risk to other people. Testing now mostly takes place in hospital. People in intensive care units and those with respiratory illness, especially if it is pneumonia, will get tested for COVID-19. When there is a cluste
