Increase in prostate referrals leads to backlog

Hospital trust says capacity issue is "temporary"

Derriford Hospital saw a 55 per cent increase in prostate referrals following  the cancer diagnosis of former Olympian Sir Chris Hoy.

There is currently a backlog of patients waiting for treatment following an increased in referrals and actions to provide more capacity are under way, a performance report presented to University Hospitals Plymouth (UHP) NHS Trust Board said.

The NHS dictates there should be no more than 62 days between the date the hospital receives an urgent suspected cancer referral and the start of treatment. Trusts are expected to meet this standard in 85 per cent of cases.

The report says 118 urology patients were waiting over 62 days in April, 46 more than the previous year, and 36 had waited more than 104 days.

Last month, UHP fell short of the national requirement and its own improvement plan to communicate a diagnosis to patients with suspected cancer within 28 days.

It follows 11 months of “excellent performance,” the interim chief executive Mark Hackett told board members at a meeting this week.

The report said clinic space at the skin cancer unit was now “insufficient” following years of growth in demand. An urgent piece of work is under way to assess sites which could enable expansion to diagnose patients in the expected time frame.

After urology, lung cancer patients wait longest for treatment.

The report continued: “Additional capacity in other key areas such as lung has been brought online but is under constant reassessment given the impending growth in demand from the lung screening programme which has recently expanded into Exeter and South Devon and from which UHP will receive any surgical patients identified for treatment following positive screening.”

Mr Hackett said issues surrounding a recent deterioration in service are “temporary” and the trust is working on a solution for space at Plymouth Marjon University.

From next month more urology and lung patients will undergo operations and they are working on demand management schemes with clinical leaders.

Prostate cancer is the most common type of cancer among men, with around one in eight in the UK being diagnosed in their lifetime.

Six-time Olympic cycling champion Sir Chris, 48, disclosed he had a terminal form of the disease. He has been raising awareness about prostate cancer since.