Presentations 2020: OMFS

347 - Are patients being informed they are on the urgent suspected cancer (USC) pathway?

DS Jayawardena N Scott MAO Lewis
Presented by: Don Jayawardena
Cardiff Dental Hospital

The NG12 NICE guidelines recommend that all patients referred to a secondary or tertiary care within the urgent suspected cancer (USC) pathway should be informed of the urgency of their referral. This pathway exists for the referral of patients showing symptoms that can be indicative of cancer. This guidance is aimed all General Medical Practitioners (GP’s) and General Dental Practitioners (GDP’s) and is present to prepare a patient for a potential cancer diagnosis and to ensure that patients take the situation seriously and attend their expedited appointment. There has been a suspicion among clinicians in Wales that patients were not being informed of their referral being on the USC pathway. Should a patient with cancer inadvertently miss an appointment, this can be critical in them receiving potentially lifesaving treatment. An audit was conducted at a secondary care centre in Wales to determine if patients on the USC pathway were aware of the urgency of their referral and the pathway they had been referred through. The data collected, from a sample size of 83, indicated that 12% of patients were aware of being referred on the USC pathway. The audit went onto compare the referral statistics between GP’s (7.5%) & GDP’s (16%), indicating that both groups are failing to follow the NICE guidance on urgent referrals.
Consent Statement: There are no details on individual patients reported within the abstract.

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