Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, North Central London Cancer Alliance and NHS England are supporting a One-Stop prostate MRI clinic so men with suspected prostate cancer can find out if they’re cancer free in just one day.
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men with over 40,000 new cases diagnosed every year. Patients with possible symptoms are referred by their GP for an MRI scan and it can take up to two weeks for results to be reviewed and patients informed of next steps.
North Middlesex University Hospital (NMUH) have been piloting an innovative model in partnership with Finchley Memorial Community Diagnostic Centre. Suitable patients are triaged into 5 protected MRI slots on each Monday morning. A teleradiology provider, The HLH Imaging Group (HLH), provides a specialist uro-radiology report with diagrammatic prostate contouring on the MRI within four hours. NMUH urologists are then able to review results that same afternoon and, thanks to the specialist report, communicate an instant recommendation to the patient. By utilising expertise at each stage of the pathway the need for review at a weekly Multi-Disciplinary Team meeting is eliminated meaning a process that formerly took several weeks now takes a day, reducing the anxiety that comes with a long wait for results. Since January, over 100 patients have benefitted from the One-Stop model.
Patient feedback has been wholly positive. Wilson Leitao said “I got the call saying I was all clear on the same afternoon of the day I went for the scan. It saved me a lot of worry.”
Julian Thomas said: “It was really quick getting an appointment – I rang on Friday, went in on Monday and got the results back same day. Going to Finchley was much easier to for me to get to and it was easier to navigate than a big hospital – more of a relaxed space, no background stress”.
Mr Ashoke Roy, Lead Urologist at the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust and the NCL CA Clinical Network Director for Urology, “This pilot shows how we can redesign prostate cancer diagnostics around patients. By bringing specialist expertise together with community diagnostic services, we’re creating a more accessible pathway that delivers high-quality care closer to people’s homes”.
Mr Shiv Pandian, Urologist at NMUH expanded further, “With the One-Stop model, we’re able to review scans and speak to many patients the very same day, giving them answers much sooner and reducing the anxiety that comes with uncertainty. It’s a simple change that makes a real difference to patients’ experience”
NCL CA and NMUH will be evaluating the One-Stop model to see how it has impacted patient experience and compliance with the Faster Diagnosis Standard (a key targets set by NHSE specifying patients must receive a confirmation or ruling out of cancer within 28 days of GP referral). If a positive impact is evidenced, the model could be expanded to additional areas.