New streamlined prostate cancer service at QEH in King's Lynn
Cancer patient experience improved at King's Lynn hospital
The Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King’s Lynn has recently launched a new urology service transforming the prostate cancer pathway and improving patient experience.
The hospital’s new Precision-Point Transperineal service allows prostate biopsies to be taken using local anaesthetic rather than general anaesthetic transforming the standard of care for patients and streamlining the pathway for all.
Mr Cristian Ilie, Urology Consultant at the QEH said:
"To put a positive on the back of what has been quite a negative year with the global pandemic, it was actually the constraints from COVID-19 that pushed us to launch the new service at QEH.
"The new service increases capacity, reducing waiting times, and allows us to deliver safer and more effective prostate biopsies efficiently, whilst optimising cancer diagnostic resources.
"The vast majority of prostate biopsies are currently performed using the Transrectal (TRUS) approach under local anaesthetic which can carry the risk of missed-diagnosis, infection and sepsis. Data from Public Health England (PHE) indicates that 5% of TRUS biopsies develop urinary infection and that prostate biopsy-related sepsis accounts for 10% of hospital admissions for sepsis nationally.
"Performing the biopsies under local anaesthetic provides a more effective sampling and can virtually eliminate biopsy-related sepsis, providing an efficient, better and safer service, freeing up general anaesthetic lists for other procedures.
"This launch has had such a positive impact on both patients and staff alike and has really transformed the biopsy service at the Trust."