Breast cancer checks still failing some patients
Key points
- Women with the symptoms of breast cancer are not being seen by a consultant within two weeks as the government promised, and they can wait up to 12 weeks because GPs are failing to recognise which cases are urgent, says a leading cancer unit.
- GPs decide whether or not a woman with suspected breast cancer is an urgent case.
- But Jonathan Roberts, consultant surgeon at King's and his colleagues, write in today's British Medical Journal that a number of women classed as non-urgent were found with breast cancer.
- "It is evident that the two-week wait initiative is not ensuring that most patients with symptomatic cancer are seen within two weeks of referral," say the doctors.
Women with the symptoms of breast cancer are not being seen by a consultant within two weeks as the government promised, and they can wait up to 12 weeks because GPs are failing to recognise which cases are urgent, says a leading cancer unit.
GPs decide whether or not a woman with suspected breast cancer is an urgent case. At King's College hospital, south London, from April 1999 to December 2000 there were 665 urgent referrals from GPs and 2,932 marked non-urgent.
But Jonathan Roberts, consultant surgeon at King's and his colleagues, write in today's British Medical Journal that a number of women classed as non-urgent were found with breast cancer. Among the urgent cases, there were 62 with cancer but among the non-urgent there were 49. Those in the non-urgent group tended to be older women, with a mean age of 60.5 years, against 59.9 in the urgent group.
"It is evident that the two-week wait initiative is not ensuring that most patients with symptomatic cancer are seen within two weeks of referral," say the doctors.
Written and revised by
Andrey Nailor, M.D.
Our doctors write and review articles for accuracy and keep them up to date.
health.am provides general information, not medical advice. Always consult a qualified health professional about your own health.
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