• 11/11/2007
  • Bolton, England
  • Jane Lavender
  • Bolton News (www.theboltonnews.co.uk)

Cancer patients are to be given “on the spot” test results following the introduction of a speedier diagnosis system at the Royal Bolton Hospital.

People with suspected head and neck cancer can be in and out of hospital in less than four hours.

In that time they will have been tested and diagnosed – a vast improvement on previous times which saw many patients wait weeks for results.

People who find a lump see their GP and may be referred to hospital for further checks. If they arrive at 9am on the day of their hospital appointment, they could be told by a consultant whether or not they have cancer by 11.30am the same day.

It is the first scheme of its kind at the hospital.

Karenza Graves, head and neck specialist nurse at the Royal Bolton Hospital, said: “This certainly speeds things up. There is a good prognosis with head and neck cancer if there is an early diagnosis.”

“Finding a lump is an extremely worrying time for a patient, so making this process faster eases their concern, especially if the tests show there is nothing to worry about.”

Around three patients are referred to the head and neck cancer clinic every week with an average of 75 people diagnosed with the disease every year.

The fast scheme was piloted in January and ran until the summer, but the scheme was not introduced full-time until a few weeks ago.

Among those to have benefited are Rita Buckley, aged 55, of Cherwell Road, Westhoughton, who was horrified to discover a lump in her neck over Christmas last year.

She visited her GP in the New Year and was referred straight to the head and neck cancer clinic at the Royal Bolton Hospital.

Mrs Buckley, who works as a credit controller, was one of the first patients to be treated under the pilot scheme, and was given her results just over two hours after having her biopsy.

The mum-of two said: “Getting the results quickly really helped because I was extremely worried. Rather than having weeks of worrying, I was told immediately that I had cancer and the wheels were put in motion for my treatment.

“Being diagnosed with cancer is very difficult, but this did take some of the pressure off by removing some of the anxiety while waiting for test results.”

Mrs Buckley had eight sessions of radiotherapy and gruelling chemotherapy and is now cancer-free.