Women with ‘worrying’ lumps in their breasts will be able to refer themselves directly to a specialist in an effort to improve cancer outcomes.
Wes Streeting said the move will have the added benefit of freeing-up GP appointments for other patients and could soon be expanded to more conditions.
The health secretary made the announcement at the Royal College of GPs annual conference in Liverpool today, where he also vowed to ‘bulldoze bureaucracy and cut red tape’ so doctors could spend more time treating and less time form-filling.
Mr Streeting told delegates he knew how ‘intolerable’ it is for GPs who spend a fifth of their time dealing with admin, with some doctors forced to complete more than 150 forms when referring patients to a consultant.
He launched a ‘red-tape challenge’, encouraging doctors to let officials know where time-savings could be made and said he and Amanda Pritchard, chief executive of NHS England, would review them.
Women with ‘worrying’ lumps in their breasts will be able to refer themselves directly to a specialist in an effort to improve cancer outcomes
Mr Streeting added: ‘The other frustration I hear from staff and patients alike are the pointless appointments you are forced to hold and patients are forced to attend.
‘You did not 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.
‘And I suspect there are other cases that come across your desks every week where a patient is being passed to you by someone else in the NHS to refer them on to someone else in the NHS too.
‘It is a waste of everyone’s time – including yours.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting said the move will have the added benefit of freeing-up GP appointments for other patients and could soon be expanded to more conditions
‘And where you give us examples of patient pathways that can be simplified for appropriate patient self referral – or direct referral by other NHS services – to save your time, we will act.’
Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women in the UK, with around 57,000 new cases diagnosed each year.
Around 85 per cent of women with the disease will survive for five years or more – but the odds of dying increase the later it is discovered.
The pilot will see women with ‘red flag symptoms’ being referred to breast diagnostic clinics without the need to see a GP first.
It will launch in Somerset before being rolled out nationwide, if it proves successful.
Mr Streeting also urged GPs to end their industrial action, which has seen some halve the number of appointments they are offering to just 25 per day.
He warned the restrictions ‘punish’ patients and pile more pressure on to other parts of the NHS.
The Government will work to introduce single patient records, which can be accessed by medical staff in GP surgeries and hospitals, he revealed.
Currently, records are not routinely shared between primary and secondary care, impairing care and forcing patients to repeat their medical histories to clinicians when moving between organisations.
Ministers also want to make it easier for researchers to use patients’ medical records for studies, subject to patient consent and adequate data security.
Checking your breasts should be part of your monthly routine so you notice any unusual changes. Simply, rub and feel from top to bottom, feel in semi-circles and in a circular motion around your breast tissue to feel for any abnormalities
Breast cancer is the UK’s most common cancer with almost 56,000 cases diagnosed per year
Mr Streeting 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.’
