NHS trust recognised for fast cancer diagnosis

The Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust's urology service has been recognised as among the quickest in England for providing a cancer diagnosis for patients.

The service, which treats patients with suspected cancers of the urinary system and the male reproductive system, has been ranked first nationally since February, according to the trust.

It said the national target is for at least 80% of patients to have cancer either confirmed or ruled out within 28 days.

But it added its team hit more than 91%, according to data from the Faster Diagnosis Standard up until April.

Patients also received answers more quickly than the national standard requires, with an average time to diagnosis of just 18 days, the trust added.

"Diagnosing urological cancers isn't the work of one team, it's a huge collaborative effort involving multiple departments across the hospital," said urology cancer navigator Jenny Smith.

"A patient may need an MRI scan, a CT scan, biopsies and specialist appointments before we can give them an answer."

"We're incredibly proud that patients are getting answers more quickly," said Dimitrios Moschonas, consultant urological surgeon and clinical director for urology at Royal Surrey.

"Whether that means starting treatment sooner or being reassured they don't have cancer, we know how important it is to reduce the anxiety of waiting."

So far this year, Royal Surrey has diagnosed or ruled out urological cancer for around 900 patients, it said.

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