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Introduction NHS cancer targets are cemented in the delivery of complex urological cancer care in the UK. Our centre is a high volume tertiary referral centre, dealing with all types of Urological cancers, which has traditionally failed to achieve these targets. Recent changes mean referring hospitals are now increasingly exposed to expensive fines. The present paper aims to describe key aspects required to improve performance in this area.
Methods Key problems:
A fragmented service with separate departments and staff working in isolation
Poor quality and retrospective data on performance
Unachievable bladder and prostate cancer pathways due to inappropriate, and delayed diagnostic tests, and lack of capacity
Solution:
Staff education and real-time use of cancer registry
Streamline cancer pathways
Uro-oncology hub within the 2WW clinic providing:
Dedicated slots for diagnostics and treatment
Patient information on all subsequent tests and treatment appointments
Single port of entry for tertiary referrals arranging MDT review, clinic, pre-op assessment and surgery
Results
The 62 day target in 2016 has improved by 10.7% to 75.6%, and the 31 day first treatment target has improved by 10% from 84% to 96%. Prostate decision to treat date moved forward from week 7 to week 3 in cancer pathway.
Conclusions This model of cancer provision has dramatically improved cancer performance enabling the trust to pass the cancer targets for 2016. The present paper illustrates a model of improvement that can be replicated in other Trusts.
