Thames Valley Cancer Alliance

Latest data on 13 of the most common cancers, such as breast, prostate and lung cancer, shows that nearly three in five patients are now being diagnosed at stages one or two - when the cancer is easier to treat. Find out more ?? https://lnkd.in/eRkNhNvU

Hundreds of thousands of people aged 50 and 53 will start to receive home-testing kits as the NHS expands its bowel cancer screening programme to catch the disease earlier. It means people aged 50 to 74 will receive the FIT test, which checks for blood in a small sample of poo, is sent by post every two years. It’s simple to use and can detect signs of bowel cancer even before symptoms appear. The FIT test, which checks for blood in a small sample of poo, is sent by post every two years. It’s simple to use and can detect signs of bowel cancer even before symptoms appear. ‘I had no symptoms, so my diagnosis was a complete shock.’ said Stephen, 56, who was diagnosed with stage 2 bowel cancer after using the test. ‘Thanks to early detection, I’m now cancer-free. The test saved my life.’ If you’re sent a bowel cancer screening kit, put it by the loo. Don't put it off. https://lnkd.in/e8dpeh_q

To provide the best possible care for people diagnosed with cancer, it’s important for us to listen and learn from their experiences. The Cancer Patient Experience Survey informs how local cancer services are improved.? If invited, please encourage your patients to have their say and help contribute to future improvements to their local cancer services. For more information on the survey and how to access help and support in completing it, please visit www.ncpes.co.uk @NHSEngland

Thanks and best wishes over this festive period from all of us at TVCA and we hope you have a happy and healthy New Year,? ? You can read the seasonal message from our managing director, Nic Beech and the Alliance team here https://lnkd.in/dzp3fJiP?

The festive period can be a busy season and opening hours for GPs and pharmacists will vary. Do encourage your patients to order their repeat prescriptions in good time. They can find out how to do this via the NHS website : https://lnkd.in/eYiCKd6r

TVCA values the work of our patient participants and recognises the difference that you can help make to NHS services. We need patient and carer volunteers to help us understand what it is like to use our cancer services. If you are a patient, family member or carer and would like to help us to improve cancer services across Thames Valley, please find out more on how you could volunteer and join the TVCA Patient Partnership Group https://lnkd.in/eXxCg_3i Sbba Siddique

Today, we’re excited to spotlight our patient representative Sbba Siddique. Sbba’s own cancer journey has inspired her to really make a difference. She uses her platform on Asian Star Radio and her award nominated podcast with Macmillan Cancer, Taboos and Stigmas, to increase awareness in the South Asian community, helping to overcome potential stigma and barriers they may experience. Read Sbba’s inspirational story and learn more about her work: https://lnkd.in/e2j7RXtN Sbba Siddique

Around 1 in 10 cases of pancreatic cancer are inherited. Someone who has more than one family member diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, or who has hereditary pancreatitis or a rare genetic condition such as Lynch syndrome, could be at higher risk. On World Pancreatic Day, we’re encouraging health professionals to refer patients with the above characteristics to the national EUROPAC study. This study monitors people with an inherited risk of pancreatic cancer and aims to detect any changes to their pancreas at an early stage. Your patients can also check their eligibility and self-refer for the study through a simple online Family History Checker, created by Pancreatic Cancer UK and supported by NHS England. To find out more about the national study, who is eligible and how to refer your patients visit https://lnkd.in/edZn4GeT

This Lung Cancer Awareness Month, we want to talk to you about a dedicated nurse-led service at OUH that has been setting an example by delivering safe, effective and highly efficient patient-centred care, as evidenced by their consistently excellent performance over the last two years. The Lung Nodule service comprises two specialist nurses and an administrator. The team works alongside respiratory physicians and thoracic radiologists to analyse CT images and determine whether patients can be discharged, or need follow-up scans or referrals. The team receives an average of 80 referrals a month via OUH clinicians and GPs. One of the main roles of the nurses upon receiving a referral is to analyse CT images for any solid nodules and determine whether the patient can be discharged, or if they need follow up scans or a referral to the lung cancer team. The nurses discuss complex cases, possible cancers, and growing nodules with the respiratory and radiology consultants and make further action plans as needed. The service is largely virtual, but there is clinic time twice a week to see patients face-to-face and discuss more complex cases. Initially having to tackle a six-month backlog – which they cleared within months – the service has been noted for impressive delivery and development, with a service template for other similar centres across the country to use. This will benefit patients and ensure consistency of service, with an improvement in lung cancer detections rates and cost savings. This programme has shown improvements across the service, with: - A reduction in time from CT scanning to letting patients know their results - A reduction in patients needing follow-up scans - A projected significant increase in savings for OUH. ??? Rachel Benamore, Lead Consultant Radiologist for the service said: "I'm extremely proud of the service that we have built with the nodule navigators, who provide safe and effective care for our patients. The service has proved to be immensely helpful in reducing waiting time for patients, which is really important at what can be quite a worrying time for them." ???Professor Andrew Brent, Chief Medical Officer at OUH, said: "It is important and appreciated that our teams find innovative solutions to make our services efficient and reduce patient waiting times. ??? "We are thrilled to see the positive impact of the lung nodule service, and are excited to see further improvements across it." You can read more about the service in our news story ?? ?? https://lnkd.in/eQtTCKnf

TVCA is supporting Lung Cancer Awareness Month this November. As part of our work in this area, we are pleased to announce that we will be rolling out the circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) test across our Alliance in the coming weeks. ctDNA has the potential to reduce time to treatment in lung cancer pathways and our Lung Clinical Advisory Group (CAG) is working in partnership with the Genomic Medicine Service Alliance (GMSA) and Astra Zeneca in providing project support. “This offers an exciting opportunity for us as an Alliance to get the best treatment for people at an earlier stage of their lung diagnosis. We look forward to working with colleagues across the Thames Valley to make this happen.” - Dr John Park, Consultant in Respiratory Medicine & Lung Cancer for OUH, leading the Lung CAG You can find information on TVCA CAG’s here: https://lnkd.in/etxP4_nK