What is the NHS 2 week pathway?
What is a ‘Two Week Wait’ referral? A ‘Two Week Wait’ referral is a request from your General Practitioner (GP) to ask the hospital for an urgent appointment for you, because you have symptoms that might indicate that you have cancer.
What is suspected cancer pathway?
The Oxford Suspected Cancer (SCAN) Pathway aims to reduce the time that patients who have vague symptoms that could be cancer wait to be diagnosed. In doing this, we also aim to increase the number of patients that are diagnosed at an early stage in their illness.
How many urgent referrals are cancer?
Currently around 7 out of 100 patients urgently referred are diagnosed with cancer, and this is likely to reduce further for us to pick up more early stage cancers.”
What does suspected cancer mean?
If a disease is diagnosed early, treatment can be more effective with better outcomes. So if there is a possibility that your symptoms could indicate cancer, you will be referred urgently to see a specialist (on what is called a “Suspected Cancer Referral”).
When do you get referred to an oncologist?
You will likely be referred to an oncologist if your doctor suspects that you have the disease. Your primary care physician may carry out tests to determine if you might have cancer. If there are any signs of cancer, your doctor may recommend visiting an oncologist as soon as possible.
How long do biopsy results take NHS?
How quickly you get the results of a biopsy will depend on the urgency of your case and your local hospital’s policy. Results are often available within a few days. But this is difficult to predict, because further tests may be needed after the first examination of the sample.
Does an urgent referral mean I have cancer?
An urgent referral is one way that your doctor can refer you to hospital. It means that you have symptoms that could be due to cancer, although they are usually due to other conditions.
What is the 2 week rule?
The 2 week rule (also called 2 week wait) is a referral for patients who have signs and symptoms that can be caused by cancer BUT in my experience, the majority of patients referred on this pathway do not have cancer.
How long should you wait for an urgent referral?
What does it mean to be urgently referred? An urgent two-week referral means that you will be offered an appointment with a hospital specialist within 2 weeks of your General Practitioner (GP) making the referral. As of April 1st 2010 you have a legal right to be seen by a specialist within this time.
Does a referral to an oncologist mean you have cancer?
Will doctors tell you if they suspect cancer?
Doctors need the information about grade and stage to plan your treatment. It may take a few days before your doctor has the results of all the tests. They will then be able to tell you whether you have cancer, and talk with you about your treatment options.
Why would my Dr refer me to an oncologist?
What are the new guidelines for cancer referrals?
The updated NICE guidelines include a number of changes aiming to give GPs more flexibility to refer patients in order to help diagnose cancers earlier; Symptom thresholds lowered; any that have a three in 100 chance (or more) of being caused by cancer are now included;
How old do you have to be to get a cancer pathway referral?
In practice young people (aged 16 to 24) may be referred using either pathway depending on their age and local arrangements. 1.10.8 Consider a suspected cancer pathway referral (for an appointment within 2 weeks) for non‑Hodgkin’s lymphoma in adults presenting with unexplained lymphadenopathy or splenomegaly.
When to refer someone for suspected breast cancer?
1.4.1 Refer people using a suspected cancer pathway referral (for an appointment within 2 weeks) for breast cancer if they are: aged 30 and over and have an unexplained breast lump with or without pain or aged 50 and over with any of the following symptoms in one nipple only:
When to refer someone for suspected lung cancer?
1.1.1 Refer people using a suspected cancer pathway referral (for an appointment within 2 weeks) for lung cancer if they: have chest X‑ray findings that suggest lung cancer or are aged 40 and over with unexplained haemoptysis. [2015]