Forum Topic

A Good reason Not To Close A&Es

Cancer: Quarter Of Cases Diagnosed In A&EAlmost a quarter of people are not diagnosed with cancer until they are admitted to hospital as an urgent case, research suggests.The National Cancer Intelligence Network (NCIN) said 24% of people only learn they have the disease in accident and emergency wards.Research from the NCIN also shows the figure is even higher among people over the age of 70 - 31%.Cancer charities say such late diagnosis can have a "disastrous impact" on survival chances.The research, published in the British Journal of Cancer, examined more than 730,000 cancer patients between 2006 and 2008 in England.Sara Hiom, director of information at Cancer Research UK and one of the study authors, said: "Our findings showing the sheer numbers of cancer patients first seen as an emergency are startling."Early diagnosis of cancer, when the most effective treatments are more likely to be options, helps improve a patient's chance of surviving their disease."We don't yet know the reasons that lie behind these stark figures but, although we might expect higher numbers of older patients to have cancer detected as an emergency, we urgently need to understand why there is such a great proportion."Professor Jane Maher, chief medical officer at Macmillan Cancer Support , added: "This route to diagnosis can have a disastrous impact on survival chances."It can be more difficult to spot cancer symptoms in older people who have other health conditions but this does not excuse such a high number of people being diagnosed in this way."All cancer patients should be given the best possible survival chance and we owe it to the older members of our society to ensure that this applies equally to them."

Nicola Howard ● 5105d9 Comments

On Sunday 3rd November at 11pm Nikki was rushed in to CXH with breathing problems.  The ambulance crew put her in a bay and, hooked her up to 2ltrs of oxygen.  It was 40 minutes before a nurse asked her to change into a gown and, a further hour before she was seen by a doctor.  She was then given some water to sooth her throat, from the nebulisers that she was given by the paramedics, and the oxygen which had dried her mouth.At 5am she was put on an oncology ward (the only bed available), and was seen later that morning (Monday 3rd Nov) by a junior doctor (F1), then someone more senior later on.  She was prescribed a two day treatment program, which was stopped after just one administration, without any rhyme or reason, leaving her distressed, as she could not take her own medication.  The doctors wanted to discharge her after two days, while she was unfit.  On the Thursday, Nikki could take no more of the messing around, and asked to be sent home.  The recovery is slow, and she is not able to do much at the present time.  Occupational Health at CXH (not social services (Ealing council)) arranged for a carer to do the heavy weekly shopping, along with other care as required.She states that, as the future of CXH is in the balance, and the strain on the NHS, people with life threatening conditions are going to die, also referring to the closure of Central Middx A+E. which in her mind, is the biggest mistake that could have been made.  She had a bad experience at CXH in June, and was discharged while unfit, and had to be readmitted to CMH on the orders of her GP, the following day.  Nikki knows her condition along with the best course of treatment and antibiotics, and the best way to administer them,  She just wishes that the doctors would listen, and not go off "Half Cocked"  She made repeated requests to be transferred to CMH but, was denied.  She has lost confidence in CXH, (resperatory) due to the poor treatment/management she received in June along with the treatment plan which was non existent in November.  She has no complaints about the Pain Management Clinic at CXH, who tried to do the lumber facet spinal block on 3 Nov, but due to her breathing she was unable to lie face down for 30 minutes on the imaging table, so they gave her a temporary epidural, then placed her on the cancellations list, as a priority

Jean F Fernandez ● 4305d