Clinic slashes cancer tests waiting time

THOUSANDS of Lothian patients will no longer face an anxious wait for breast cancer test results.

A one-stop clinic is being trialled at the Western General Hospital, where women receive a physical examination, mammography, ultrasound and biopsy, and get the results all in a single day.

At present it takes up to one week for test results to come through, and women can be forced to attend different appointments for various examinations.

NHS Lothian is also bidding to slash the wait between GP referral and hospital appointments, which until recently was around seven weeks. Health workers want to reduce that to just two weeks.

The changes have come about following a week-long brainstorming session involving managers, frontline staff and administrative workers. Time trials are taking place, and the results will be assessed at the end of July.

Superintendent radiographer Mandy Stewart said: "We've been using the current system since I joined the service ten years ago and it is becoming overloaded with so many more patients coming through.

"It's time to change the way we look at things and change the way services are provided. The new system would streamline and improve service provision."

The changes are part of a pioneering "lean management" programme, based on principles first adopted by Japanese car manufacturer Toyota. It involves asking "shop-floor" workers for ideas on improving the way things work.

As a result, the breast clinic at the Western will now hold four sessions every day, instead of three, and a better triage protocol has been developed to allow women at high-risk to receive an appointment within days.

The system used for handling test results has been overhauled, with "hot reporting" introduced on the day of the appointment.

Glyn Neades, consultant breast surgeon, said: "We have found that patients appreciate being able to have the tests and receive the results on the same day, as this reduces anxiety a great deal."

Barrie Collins, head of services for Breast Cancer Care Scotland, said: "We welcome any system that could reduce the time women wait to receive a diagnosis."

Breast cancer sufferer Christine Tulloch, 55, said the trial was "tremendous news". The marketing worker, who lives in the city centre, said: "I had to wait eight days for my results and it is a very worrying time. This new system would be a great advantage."

THE FACTS

• In the last quarter of 2006, the percentage of cancer patients waiting more than two months fell from 21.04 per cent to 15.5 per cent.

• A one-stop clinic for breast cancer test results is being trialled, with a planned reduction in waiting time from referral to appointment from seven weeks to two weeks.

• Waiting times for routine CT scans have reduced from a maximum of 21 weeks to four weeks.

• Waiting times for routine colonoscopies have reduced from a maximum of 29 weeks to 18 weeks, with plans to hit nine weeks by September.