A PATHWAY to improve prostate cancer diagnosis for patients in west Wales has been recognised in the prestigious 2024 NHS Wales Awards.
The PROSTAD pathway improvement initiative won the Efficient Care Award at an award ceremony in Cardiff on Thursday 24 October 2024.
Hywel Dda University Health Board (UHB), together with Swansea University and Cancer Research UK’s Test, Evidence, Transition (TET) Programme, has developed the novel prostate cancer rapid diagnosis pathway (PROSTAD) to tackle the delays in diagnosing prostate cancer.
Prostate cancer is the most common male cancer in the UK, and delays in diagnosis can negatively impact patient outcomes and quality of life and diagnostic waiting times in Wales exceed the 28-day recommended timeline.
Yeung Ng, Consultant Urologist HDUHB and Clinical Project Lead PROSTAD said: “This has been a very successful collaboration which has reduced the time from referral to diagnosis of prostate cancer by 28 days for our patients in Hywel Dda.
“Lessons learnt will be shared across other cancer pathways both within the health board and on a national basis.
“I am very grateful to our whole clinical and research team and to our patients for making this project a success.”
Professor Phil Kloer, Chief Executive of Hywel Dda UHB congratulated the teams saying: “Working together on this dedicated cancer pathway is helping us to identify inefficiencies, reduce waiting times and improve patient communication.
“The support and resources from Swansea University and Cancer Research UK, together with the involvement of healthcare professionals and patient advocacy groups, have been pivotal in this work.
“I congratulate everyone involved in this significant achievement.”
Nick Rich, Professor of Socio-Technical Systems Design (Operations Management) in Swansea University’s School of Management added: “The PROSTAD project clearly demonstrates the benefits that derive from our university health board partnership and how combining our resources delivers a positive impact.
“The project has united research from multiple Swansea University faculties, supported ‘future-thinking’ clinical teams, and shown the value of Cancer Research UK’s investments to deliver key benefits for patients, their loved ones and professionals within and beyond our region.”
Naser Turabi, Director of Evidence and Implementation at Cancer Research UK said: “We have been delighted to work with the terrific PROSTAD team based in Hywel Dda University Health Board, supporting the development of a rapid diagnostic pathway for prostate cancer.
“The new pathway seeks to safely reduce unnecessary biopsies and shorten waiting times. We hope to work with partners across Wales, to ensure its transition into mainstream practice.
“This project is part of our Test, Evidence Transition Programme, which focuses on taking proven innovations, gathering evidence to accelerate equitable adoption to benefit everyone.”
Since its introduction, the new pathway has had a positive impact on reducing waiting times and on the experience of patients and staff:
- GP referral to MRI time has decreased from 22 days to 14 days
- MRI reporting time has reduced from 8 days to 1 day
- Clinical review and biopsy decisions are received 1 day after MRI
- Patients preferred receiving MRI results and discussing biopsy requirements via telephone
- Improvements provide faster access to radiological investigation and biopsy decisions
- Positive patient feedback highlights the importance of timely diagnosis
- Urology staff reported improved workflow efficiencies
The health board aims to continue improving prostate cancer diagnosis for patients across Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire and to share best practice across the wider NHS.
The NHS Wales Awards celebrate quality improvement work that has transformed the experience and outcomes for people in Wales and provides and showcases the talented health and care staff working together to improve services and patient care across Wales.
For more information on this award visit: https://executive.nhs.wales/functions/quality-safety-and-improvement/improvement-cymru/nhs-wales-awards/2024/efficient-care/hduhb-prostad/