Fast service for cancer patients due

The Whittington hospital is the first in London to set up an acute oncology service which could halve the amount of time cancer patients spend in the ward.

Following a six-month pilot project spearheaded by The Whittington’s consultant oncologist, Dr Pauline Leonard, the department has been given the green light, meaning suspected cancer patients can be seen by an expert within 24 hours of being admitted.

It follows a report from the National chemotherapy Advisory Group, which recommended all hospitals with emergency departments should provide acute oncology teams as part of the services.

Dr Leonard said: “Patients who come in through A&E would end up staying an average of 19 days and having tests and then finally getting a diagnosis. Lots of these people are very sick and they shouldn’t be using up their valuable life with lots of unnecessary evaluations.

“This department means they spend less time languishing in bed and then being told there’s nothing active we can offer.”
Ms Leonard works with one other doctor, a matron and two nurses specialising in breast and lung cancers, and says they have received positive responses from colleagues in the Highgate Hill hospital.

The A&E staff have been trained to help manage patients with cancer symptoms while a process of rapid treatment is arranged. The pilot scheme showed that an estimated 2,700 bed days could be saved per year in a 400 bed hospital.

This article has been taken from one that originally appeared in the Ham & High on 8 July 2010.