Lack of lab staff delays results from cancer tests
CANCER patients are facing delays in receiving test results because of staff shortages in hospital laboratories, experts have warned.
Just 3 per cent of laboratories say they have got enough expert medical staff to analyse cell and tissue samples.
Demand has ‘grown significantly’ for pathology services but the size of the workforce has not kept up, according to a survey by the Royal College of Pathologists.
The college warns: ‘If this trend continues unchecked, clinical services could be in jeopardy.’
An approaching retirement crisis, with a quarter of histopathologists [ laboratory cancer specialists] aged 55 or over, is set to compound the problem.
Three-quarters of histopathology departments responded to the 2017 survey, with just 3 per cent – three out of 103 – saying they had enough staff to meet demand.
understaffed departments said they were relying on employing locums, outsourcing or staff overtime to meet demand.
The report also warned that a new test for bowel cancer – known as FIT (faecal immunochemical test) – being rolled out in the NHS will increase screening uptake.
Professor Jo Martin, the president of the Royal College of Pathologists, said: ‘The cost of staff shortages across histopathology departments is high for both patients and for our health services.
‘For patients, it means worrying delays in diagnosis and treatment.
‘For NHS hospitals, it means spending more resources on locum doctors to fill staffing gaps or outsourcing services.
‘We estimate this costs £27million each year across the uK health service – money that could be betmental ter invested in staff and new diagnostic equipment.’
Histopathologists diagnose and study disease by analysing tissue samples, manage cancer treatment and perform autopsies.
A new NHS screening programme has led to increased workloads, compounded by outdated IT systems, the college said.
The number of cancer cases is projected to rise by more the 40 per cent to about 514,000 new cases a year in 2035, further increasing demand, it added.
The college is calling for more investment, better IT and more funded training places.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: ‘There are hundreds more pathologists in the NHS compared to 2010 and hospitals have reduced spending on temporary agency staff by over half a billion pounds in the last year.
‘We are listening to staff, encouraging more flexible working and have increased medical training places for home-grown doctors by 25 per cent to ensure the NHS has the workforce it needs for the future.’
A quick and easy test for viral infections could reduce unnecessary antibiotic use and hospital admissions, researchers claim.
The test, they say, which gives results in 50 minutes, could save hospitals about £2,000 for every patient not admitted and relieve winter pressures on available beds.
The nasal swab procedure, known as point of care respiratory viral testing, has been trialled at Watford General Hospital since January.
Dr Kay Roy told the European Respiratory Society International Congress in Paris: ‘ Hospital admission was avoided in 25 per cent [of cases] and unnecessary antibiotics were avoided in 50 per cent.’
‘It means worrying delays in diagnosis’