New procedure reduces waiting times
Kettering General Hospital has launched a new procedure to help speed up the diagnosis of lung cancer and serious infections.
On June 4 the hospital performed its first endobronchial ultrasound guided biopsy using a £160,000 ultrasonic bronchoscopy system.
Previously patients who needed the procedure had to travel to Leicester for it - which increased the amount of time it took to get results and diagnosis.
Now 50-100 patients a year will be able to have the procedure at Kettering General Hospital reducing waits by up to 10 days.
Kettering General Hospital’s Clinical Director for Specialty Medicine, Dr Raja Reddy, said:
“Normally bronchoscopes enable you to see pictures of the inside of the tubes leading to a person’s lungs.
“However this is a new form of bronchoscope which has an ultrasound probe within it.
“The probe uses high frequency sound waves creating a picture of the outside of the airway walls – showing the position of the lymph nodes.
“Because we can see the lymph nodes we can then use the bronchoscope to perform a needle biopsy.
“The biopsy is then used to help us diagnose conditions such as lung cancer and serious infections like tuberculosis.”
The Trust received funding to buy the special bronchoscope from the National Optimal Lung Cancer Pathway.
The National Optimal Lung Cancer Pathway (NOLCP) sets out new and improved ways to deliver this cancer pathway for patients from referral to diagnosis with the aim of reducing waiting times and reducing variation in clinical pathways across the country.
It is part of the National Cancer Strategy which aims to make significant progress in reducing preventable cancers, increasing cancer survival and improving patient experience and quality of life by 2020