A new service has been introduced at the Nightingale Hospital Exeter to get patients with suspected cancer a diagnosis and treatment more quickly.
A new service has been introduced at the Nightingale Hospital Exeter to get patients with suspected cancer a diagnosis and treatment more quickly.
The innovative nurse-led trans-nasal endoscopy service is run by Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust and has increased the number of appointments available so that patients get their appointments, and their diagnosis, quicker.
Patients with suspected oesophageal cancer would previously have had to attend hospital two or three times for different tests before they got their diagnosis, but the new pathway means that patients can get their CT scan on the same-day and should only need one outpatient visit for all their diagnostic tests.
Lisa Burrow, Nurse Endoscopist, said “This service has cut the time from referral to diagnosis from approximately three weeks to just one week.
“This is really important, because it means that patients start treatment more quickly if they have got cancer and for those patients who don’t have cancer it gives them that peace of mind more quickly as well.”
The service is based at the new Buttercup unit that opened in June 2024. The Buttercup unit completed the conversion of the Nightingale from a vacant COVID-19 hospital into an elective care hub that is reducing waiting lists through innovation and outstanding patient care.
Sam Higginson, Chief Executive Officer said, “The Nightingale Hospital Exeter is helping us reduce waiting times for patients across Devon and beyond. The diagnostic radiography team in the Devon Diagnostic Centre at the Nightingale can report on scans on the same-day, which makes services like this possible.”