Category Archives: Uncategorised

Patients’ Priorities For Cancer Research: A Pilot Study

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Below is the PACER poster which was presented at the National Cancer Research Institute conference in November. Dr Sing Yu Moorcraft, a Clinical Research Fellow, carried out a pilot study at the Royal Marsden. She asked cancer patients what they thought were their priorities for research and the results are very interesting. She is hoping to take the study forward by now carrying out the study at more hospitals to gain more opinions.

PACER
PACER NCRI poster
Click to see the poster

RNOH Patient Partners

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The Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital (RNOH) Stanmore involves patients via its Patient Partners programme to help improve their service. This involves meetings both at Stanmore and via virtual discussion groups. Discussing with RNOH and other patients what is good about the hospital is very rewarding. Best of all they do listen because they have already made changes to the appointments system following criticisms.

You can find out what was discussed at the first virtual session at Patient and public involvement at the RNOH. RNOH are keen to get more patients involved and the link tells you how to do so.

Best Places To Work 2015

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Carrying on from last year’s Best Places To Work  both RNOH and The Marsden appear in the Health Service Journal’s 2015 list of top 120 places.
Full story at HSJ reveals the best places to work in 2015

The Royal Marsden Foundation Trust
8 July, 2015

Best Places to Work 2015 – Acute Specialist Trusts

  • Full time equivalent staff: 3,528
  • Sickness absence rates: 2.85 per cent
  • Staff recommending care: 89 per cent
  • Staff recommending as place to work: 71 per cent

Loans are on offer to staff at the Royal Marsden Foundation Trust for season ticket travel costs and bicycles. Childcare vouchers are also part of the standard benefits package. Gym membership is subsidised. In the most recent NHS staff survey, 92 per cent of staff questioned at the trust said their role made a difference.

Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital Trust
8 July, 2015

Best Places to Work 2015 – Acute Specialist Trusts

  • Full time equivalent staff: 1,310
  • Sickness absence rates: 2.88 per cent
  • Staff recommending care: 87 per cent
  • Staff recommending as place to work: 71 per cent

The Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital Trust has invested in software that supports staff with dyslexia. It actively seeks to recruit and retain staff with disabilities. Gym and swimming pool facilities exist on site. The trust scored 3.9 out of 5 for engagement in the most recent NHS staff survey.

NICE guidelines allow GPs to order tests and scans

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NICE has announced a new set of guidelines to let GPS directly order tests and scans for 37 suspected cancers without having to refer to a specialist first. This is in a bid to save lives and get an earlier diagnosis.

NICE’s new symptom–based approach will help to save thousands of lives from cancer

New cancer strategy ‘could save thousands’ of lives

The guidelines include suspected sarcoma.

1.11 Sarcomas

Bone sarcoma in adults

1.11.1 Consider a suspected cancer pathway referral (for an appointment within 2 weeks) for adults[4] if an X‑ray suggests the possibility of bone sarcoma. [new 2015]

Bone sarcoma in children and young people

1.11.2 Consider a very urgent referral (for an appointment within 48 hours) for specialist assessment for children and young people[4] if an X‑ray suggests the possibility of bone sarcoma. [new 2015]

1.11.3 Consider a very urgent direct access X‑ray (to be performed within 48 hours) to assess for bone sarcoma in children and young people with unexplained bone swelling or pain. [new 2015]

Soft tissue sarcoma in adults

1.11.4 Consider an urgent direct access ultrasound scan (to be performed within 2 weeks) to assess for soft tissue sarcoma in adults[4] with an unexplained lump that is increasing in size. [new 2015]

1.11.5 Consider a suspected cancer pathway referral (for an appointment within 2 weeks) for adults[4] if they have ultrasound scan findings that are suggestive of soft tissue sarcoma or if ultrasound findings are uncertain and clinical concern persists. [new 2015]

Soft tissue sarcoma in children and young people

1.11.6 Consider a very urgent direct access ultrasound scan (to be performed within 48 hours) to assess for soft tissue sarcoma in children and young people[4] with an unexplained lump that is increasing in size. [new 2015]

1.11.7 Consider a very urgent referral (for an appointment within 48 hours) for children and young people[4] if they have ultrasound scan findings that are suggestive of soft tissue sarcoma or if ultrasound findings are uncertain and clinical concern persists. [new 2015]

Source: http://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/NG12/chapter/1-recommendations#sarcomas

The Healing Power of Your Own Medical Records

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This article The Healing Power of Your Own Medical Records in the New York Times is about a student at MIT who discovered his own brain cancer, has a video of the 10 hour operation to remove it, has copies of all his scans, 300 clinical reports, genetic data etc. He even has a 3-D printed copy of the tumour.

His case points to what medical experts say could be gained if patients had full and easier access to their medical information. Better-informed patients, they say, are more likely to take better care of themselves, comply with prescription drug regimens and even detect early-warning signals of illness, as Mr. Keating did.