Quicker referrals for patients with breast cancer concerns in Forth Valley

The initiative, part of a new programme called Test, Evidence, Transition (TET), hopes to enable patients to access treatment more quickly – providing the best chance of tackling the disease successfully.

TET is a major Cancer Research UK programme which aims to accelerate innovations in the health system while reducing inequalities experienced by patients in cancer care.

Cancer waiting times in Scotland are currently among the worst on record. From April to June this year, only 73.7 per cent of patients on an urgent referral for a suspicion of cancer started treatment within 62 days. This is well below the 95 per cent standard and is the third worst performance on record since 2012.

One of the new TET pilot schemes will take place in NHS Forth Valley where patients who contact their GP after finding a lump in their breast will be referred directly to a breast assessment clinic – without the need for an initial GP appointment and subsequent wait for a referral appointment.

The aim is to free up GP time, improve the patient experience and prevent delays in diagnosis which is crucial in tackling the disease when it is most treatable.

Juliette Murray, NHS Forth Valley’s deputy medical director for acute services and breast surgeon, said: “We already run one-stop breast clinics which enable patients referred by their GP to have an outpatient consultation, mammogram and ultrasound scans performed during the same visit along with a biopsy, if required.

“Enabling GPs to refer directly to these clinics without the need for patients to attend their GP practice for an initial consultation will make the referral process even faster. It will also ensure women who find lumps or experience changes in their breasts are seen as quickly as possible and, in many cases, reassured that they do not have cancer.”

Currently in Forth Valley, people who find a breast lump are asked to contact their GP for an initial appointment; the doctor will then decide whether to refer the patient to a specialist breast clinic at Forth Valley Royal Hospital in Larbert.

Under the new procedure, on calling their GP practice, the patient will be asked screening questions by the GP’s receptionist who can then refer them directly to the local breast clinic at the hospital.

The project will be evaluated by researchers at the University of Stirling who will work with the NHS clinical team to evaluate and develop it over the next 18 months.

If successful, it could be adopted permanently in Forth Valley, as well as elsewhere in Scotland and the rest of the UK.

Dr Erica Gadsby, University of Stirling lead on the project, said: “We hope this new patient pathway in Forth Valley will remove the need for that initial GP appointment, therefore freeing up valuable GP time, reducing inconvenience to the patient and speeding up the referral to the breast clinic.

“By collecting data and feedback, we will be looking closely at the impact of the new pathway on waiting times, patient experience and also on health inequalities.”