Cancer clinic speeds up diagnosis

The team and Doctor Stephen Iles, middle row on far right.

The time patients wait to learn if they have lung cancer has been slashed thanks to the Respiratory Fast Track Clinic service in Northland.

Northland District Health Board set up the clinic up in March last year, modelling it on a similar service offered by the Southern District Health Board.

The 'one stop shop' concept means a single appointment includes a first specialist assessment, CT (computed tomography) scan, follow-up and diagnosis. Biopsies can also be done on day one instead of across four or five days.

Early results show a startling improvement in wait times and treatment for lung cancer.

Before the Respiratory Fast Track Clinic, the process would normally require a patient to attend four to five appointments on separate days.

Patients with a high suspicion of cancer could take 20 days from referral to diagnosis.

"What we found was that one-third of our patients didn't have cancer and they could be given that news on the same day as their appointment which immediately relieved an enormous amount of anxiety," respiratory physician Dr Stephen Iles said.

"For those people who were diagnosed with lung cancer, we were able to determine a pathway of treatment as soon as possible."

Lung cancer causes more deaths in New Zealand than other cancers - more than 1600 people dying a year.

"Clearly we are still very focused on preventing lung cancer which means eliminating smoking, however, given lung cancer is the number one cancer killer for men and women the sooner we can diagnose it the better," Dr Iles said.

"If you have a persistent cough for a month or so you are well advised to go and see your GP as soon as possible."