Women with worrying lumps are to be directly referred to a breast
diagnostic clinic using the NHS App as part of a new trial, the
Health and Social Care Secretary announced today.
This will lead to faster diagnosis for cancer patients and free
up more GP appointments.
The Health and Social Care Secretary confirmed the update during
a speech at the Royal College of GPs' conference in Liverpool
today.
From November, the local pilot will see 111 online – available on
the app – refer women in Somerset who need diagnostic testing,
saving them the stress and time of booking a GP appointment.
The scheme will be evaluated before any further roll-out could be
considered.
He also outlined the series of steps the government is taking to
support the primary care sector, including better use of NHS
data.
The Health and Social Care Secretary said:
“The other frustration I hear from staff and patients alike are
the pointless appointments you're forced to hold and patients are
forced to attend. You didn't go through five years of medical
school plus five years of training to tick boxes.
“So where there are appointments that can be cut out, with
patients seen by specialists faster and GPs' time freed up to do
what only GPs can do, we will act.
“Starting in November, 111 online, which is available through the
NHS app, will pilot directly referring women with a worrying lump
to a breast clinic. That means faster diagnosis for cancer
patients.
“And more GP appointments freed up. Better for patients and
better for GPs. I suspect there are cases that come across your
desks every week, where a patient has been passed to you by
someone else in the NHS to refer them on to someone else in the
NHS.
“It is a waste of everyone's time, including yours, and where you
give us examples of patient pathways that can be simplified
through appropriate patient self-referral or direct referral by
other NHS services to save your time, we will act.”
Data is the future of the NHS and will enable innovation across
the health service. Creating single patient records will form a
vital part of the 10-Year Health Plan – ensuring that crucial
information is held electronically and connected across hospitals
and general practices.
This will let NHS staff make effective decisions that get
patients the care they need faster.
Alongside this, the government will take action to support
groundbreaking research. If a patient consents to the data in
their GP records being shared with certain approved studies, NHS
England will take responsibility for making this happen, while
making sure patients' data is kept safe
by requiring the highest standards of data security and
patient consent processes from these studies.
Discussing the single patient data record, the Health and
Social Care Secretary said:
“We need to work together to create a single
patient record, owned by the patient, shared across the system so
that every part of the NHS has a full picture of the patient.
“This applies as much to research as to care. The two go hand in
hand. World-leading studies like the UK Biobank, Genomics
England, and Our Future Health are building up incredibly
detailed profiles of our nation's health.
“Patients have given their consent for their data to be shared
with these studies. But we still see, far too often, that this
data is not shared according to patients' wishes.
“That's why I am directing NHS England to take away this burden
from you. Just like they did during the pandemic, if a patient
explicitly consents to sharing their data with a study, NHS
England will take responsibly for making this happen. In return,
we will demand the highest standards of data security.”
World-leading studies like the UK Biobank, Genomics England, and
Our Future Health are build detailed profiles of our nation's
health – but too often this data is not shared according to
patients' wishes.
This change will ensure it happens and demand the highest levels
of data security.
Doing so will make new treatments available, bolster the life
sciences industry, and make the NHS more sustainable for the long
term by accelerating the shift from sickness to prevention.A Red
Tape Challenge will also be launched to free up GPs time and cut
down on bureaucracy.
The challenge will be led by Claire Fuller, Primary Care Medical
Director for NHSE and Stella Vig, Medical Director for Secondary
Care and Quality.
They will ask GPs, hospitals, and ICBs what works well and what
needs to change before the feedback is considered by a review
group made up of frontline doctors in primary and secondary care.
