CANCER RESULTS ‘SENT BY TEXT’

Move could stop patients being missed... but is called insensitive

PATIENTS will be told they have cancer by text under NHS plans to prevent life- threatening treatment delays.

Those with abnormal scan or X-ray results would be sent a message briefly outlining the concerns and urging them to see a doctor.

While the intention would be for most patients to receive the news from their doctor first, many could only find out by text. Anyone who was on holiday, unable to get an appointment or whose results were sitting in email inboxes would learn the devastating news on their phone.

The text messages are intended to provide a ‘safety net’ to ensure patients still find out about the diagnosis even if there is a communication breakdown.

Usually the radiologist who interprets the scan sends the results by post or email to the patient’s GP and any other specialist teams. But sometimes these go missing or just aren’t read by overworked doctors.

While medical leaders are broadly supportive of the proposals, campaigners have described them as an ‘ insensitive’ way to break bad news. The plans have been drawn up by the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB), a flagship organisation set up to prevent serious errors being repeated.

They were triggered by the death of a 76-year- old woman with lung cancer whose abnormal scan results were missed.

She had undergone a chest X-ray – and although the findings were sent to two hospital departments as well as her GP, nobody read them.

The woman did not find out she had cancer until three months later when she went to A&E with chest pains, and died shortly afterwards.

Her case was investigated by officials at HSIB, who suggested that text messages would avoid ‘ failures in communication’ which could prove deadly.

The organisation has asked the NHS’s digital transformation body and the Royal College of Radiologists – which represents doctors who diagnose cancer – to develop an automated text system.

A report outlining the proposals, seen by the Mail, states: ‘If patients were automatically informed of findings it would minimise the risk of harm from failures in communication.

‘The notification would be sent within an agreed timeframe to ensure that the vast majority of patients would have received the information by a clinician.

‘However, if the result had become lost in the system, the notification would provide a vital safety net.’ There are approximately 363,000 new

‘A vital safety net’

cases of cancer in the UK a year and thanks to better detection and treatment, half are expected to survive at least ten years.

But while this rate has improved in recent decades, it is still substantially lower than our European neighbours. One of the reasons we lag behind is late diagnosis, which in some cases is due to X-ray reports being lost or not read by doctors.

The plans are still in the early stages and officials would still need to decide how the text messages were worded to ensure they were sensitive.

Some patients consulted by HSIB as part of the proposals were concerned about not being told the news face-to-face by an experienced doctor.

Roy Lilley, a health policy analyst and former chairman of an NHS trust, also criticised the plans. He said: ‘This is the most appalling, insensitive idea. Cancer is a huge shock and a patient has to be told in the most sensitive and careful way.’

Caroline Abrahams, from Age UK, said: ‘The aim of ensuring people get test results as quickly as possible is welcome, but it must be understood that by no means are all older people techsavvy. An over-reliance on text messages could actually lead to disastrous delays if older people are not habitual users.’

Professor Carrie MacEwen – chairman of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, which represents 24 royal colleges and other health bodies – said: ‘ The academy will play its part to ensure practical solutions are implemented.’