On behalf of the Honorary Secretary, Keith Percival
Please receive this forwarded information from NHS England & NHS Improvement – South East Region:
Dear Colleague
Please find attached some correspondence from NHSE/I (Thames Valley Cancer Alliance) which sets out how some pathways have changed during the coronavirus pandemic. The solutions set out are indicative and should be adapted to local circumstances, diagnostic capacity and workforce. These are not mandatory changes and individual clinicians, trusts and multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) should make the final decisions on the most appropriate action for individual patients and their local services.
The Head and Neck information is on page 20. Please can I draw your attention to the benefits of sending a photograph with your referral at this time. It makes it easier for us to triage these patients and is especially helpful if you are able to annotate the photograph by either arrowing or circling the suspicious lesion.
Please note that the COVID-19 questions have been added to the 2ww referral pathway on the Dental Electronic Referral System (DERS).
The 2ww suspected cancer pathway continues to be operational and cancer patients continue to be treated during this time. We have seen several patients who now have proven cancer who have struggled to access referrals at this time – partly due to their own reticence to seek help and partly due to difficulty accessing GP and GDP assessment, and we must encourage patients to seek help if required.
We are still seeing a number of non-suspicious pathologies being referred on the pathway – the most common being dental cysts and medication related osteonecrosis of the jaw and I would kindly ask you to use the non 2 week-wait referral routes rather than the suspected cancer route.
Please also check back on your DERS referrals – we sometimes come back for additional information around referrals and the quicker we can answer any queries, the quicker we can get patients into the appropriate place for care.
Jennifer Graystone
Clinical Director
Thames Valley Cancer Alliance
