Cancer patients gaining rapid access to tests could save 10,000 lives a year

Cancer patients gaining rapid access to tests could save 10,000 lives a year GPs have been told to give patients rapid access to cancer testing in a bid to save 10,000 lives a year.

Family doctors should speed up diagnoses by booking key tests such as ultrasounds themselves, rather than making patients wait to see a specialist who then orders the procedures.

Amid the new guidelines from the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE), which were published yesterday, GPs are specifically encouraged to order urgent gastrointestinal endoscopies for patients showing possible signs of stomach and oesophageal cancer. The Daily Telegraph

See also:

• Patients with suspected cancer to be diagnosed quicker under new NHS guidelines The Daily Mail