Targeted supporting action
5.20 The programmes of investment in diagnostic and radiotherapy equipment, and in the cancer workforce set out in Chapters 8 and 9 will help build extra capacity where that is needed. There will also be special initiatives to help tackle the key pressure points.
5.21 For example, endoscopy services, which are important in the diagnosis of bowel and stomach cancers, have been growing extremely rapidly, for example, the use of flexible sigmoidoscopy has doubled in the last five years. Around half a million people need a gastrointestinal endoscopy each year, whether for cancer or other possible disease, and waiting times for endoscopy can be long. In response:
The National Patients' Access Team (NPAT) has co-ordinated a review of the action needed to get the best out of existing services, by redesigning systems to cut out unnecessary delays. The review recommends arrangements for GPs to refer patients directly for endoscopy, using standardised electronic referral protocols and cutting out the need for an unnecessary outpatient visit.
The Department of Health will invest £2.5 million a year in training for GPs, nurses, surgeons and gastroenterologists to undertake endoscopy within agreed national standards for education, practice, supervision and audit.
5.22 The planned increase in histopathology training will be an important addition to diagnostic capacity. (Chapter 8)
5.23 These are ambitious targets. But it is right to be ambitious. Waits that stretch to several months can affect the outcome of treatment. And both patients and clinicians are agreed on the importance of rapid diagnosis and treatment to relieve anxieties and help patients cope with the potential threat of cancer. Progress will be phased to allow time for existing services to be streamlined and new capacity brought on stream. The process of improvement will begin immediately. Provided the NHS can recruit the staff it needs and the necessary reforms are put in place, by 2008 access to treatment - not just for some cancers, as now - but for all types of cancer, will compare with the best in Europe.
