Secondary Care
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We work in partnership with two main hospitals, University Hospitals of Derby & Burton and Chesterfield Royal Hospital.
We work with our stakeholders and providers and improve the cancer services in Derbyshire; working closely with the East Midlands Cancer Alliance who bring together local clinical and managerial leaders who represent the whole cancer pathway. Together, we provide the opportunity for a different way of working, to improve and transform cancer services. We act on national directives in cancer care and adapt these specifically for our rural population. We work to support our service providers (GPs, Hospitals etc) achieve the highest possible patient standards across Derbyshire – always trying to improve the care we give to people with a cancer diagnosis and link services together.
The work that we have been leading on and involved with, to support the improvement of patient care in Derbyshire includes:
Referrals from GPs to Hospitals
We have supported our Derbyshire primary care (GP) teams to make major changes to improve, in particular, the referral process. Previously, patients were referred to the hospital who then ordered and carried out the necessary tests. The patient would need to return to hospital for a second appointment to receive the results of the tests. The process now is that the GP orders all necessary tests and scans to be carried out first and then reviews the results before referring a patient to the hospital. This saves at least one hospital appointment per patient and also means that when a patient sees the consultant, the consultant has all the information and test results and is able to make a much quicker treatment plan as necessary. It also means that should tests return an unexpected result, the GP can look at other possible causes of illness; again, this saves unnecessary hospital appointments and frustration for patients.
Rapid Diagnostic Service
This is a pilot project which will run from 2020 in various parts of Derbyshire. Some cancers are harder to detect than others as the symptoms can be non-specific, multiple or broad and can be shared with many other common conditions. The idea of this new way to deliver care is to provide a place for appropriate patients to be referred to so that a broader range of tests and assessments can be carried out as quickly as possible. This saves the time-consuming process and frustrations of being referred to multiple hospital departments.