Cancer Research UK has added resources to the Learning Hub to support lung cancer vigilance and diagnosis during the pandemic to broaden reach to healthcare professionals. The resources are relevant to colleagues working in primary and acute settings in supporting detection, key actions and in providing national guidance.
Urgent referrals for suspected lung cancer have seen a sustained reduction during the COVID-19 pandemic withurgent referrals 35%* lowerin England and Wales from March‒November 2020, compared to the same period in 2019. This translates to around 17,800 fewer people on an urgent referral for suspected lung cancer in England and Wales.
Lung cancer can be challenging to diagnose even under normal circumstances; therefore it is more important than ever to be alert to the risk of suspected lung cancer in patients, with the added possibility of symptoms being disguised by potential COVID-19 symptoms. This resource – Recognition and referral of suspected lung cancer in the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic – provides healthcare professionals with key actions and national guidance.
Consistent safety netting is important to implement across practice. It aims to ensure patients are monitored until signs and symptoms are explained or resolved and involves patient communication around next steps and follow-up. For more information on this subject access this resource: Safety netting patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.
For key resources for healthcare professionals to support people living with cancer during the pandemic visit the Health Professional COVID-19 and Cancer Hub.
The Learning Hub is a digital platform that provides easy access to a wide range of education and training resources for the health and care workforce. Organisations and users can contribute and share resources for those in health and care to access.
It only takes a few minutes to contribute a resource to the Learning Hub. You can sign into the Learning Hub either using an e-Learning for Healthcare username and password or NHS OpenAthens user account details or by creating an account on the Learning Hub and using those details. Select “Contribute a new resource” and populate the form with details including the resource title, type, description and author details.
For more information about the Learning Hub follow us on Twitter: @HEE_TEL and visit the Learning Hub website to read about our journey so far.
*England – Monthly Provider Cancer Waiting Times, NHS England https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/cancer-waiting-times/
Wales – Monthly Cancer Waiting Times via the Urgent Suspected Cancer route, Welsh Government: https://statswales.gov.wales/Catalogue/Health-and-Social-Care/NHS-Hospital-Waiting-Times/Cancer-Waiting-Times/Monthly