Cancer Diagnostics Computer Program to Launch

The NHS is due to roll out a new diagnostics computer program in the UK to help fast track patients needing urgent cancer treatment in the coming year.

There are over 150,000 cancer related deaths in the UK each year and nearly 300,000 new cases where breast cancer, lung cancer, prostrate cancer and bowel cancer make up over 50% of all new cases reported.

The doctors wanting this new program installed into GP surgeries state that the problem with most cancer deaths is many can be avoided if early diagnosis had been provided. The new patient tailored software programs are thought to be rolled out over the next five years and take into account any information that a patient may tell their GP. This will then help the decision making process on whether or not to have more detailed tests and examinations in cancer specialist departments in hospitals.

Many private health insurance policies now specifically cover cancer treatment (one such one is Bupa but many have specific cancer plans to ensure you can be fast tracked into having the right treatment in all stages).

It is hoped by having such an early warning system could prevent up to 10,000 cancer related deaths each year although it is seen as an additional tool that GPs can use in addition to their already vast knowledge relating to this disease.

It is also thought that by having such a program could help with spotting the rarer types of cancers from symptoms that a patient may tell their doctor. It can often be difficult to be able to assess a patient that has a cancer that a doctor may not have heard of or had previous experience of. And it may help cut some costs in the NHS because early diagnosis can mean that the cancer can be caught and helped out of a persons system rather than having to have expensive cancer drugs towards the end of the treatment.

At the end of the day this will be another tool that doctors can use to fast track patients who they believe may have the early stages of cancer for tests and treatment if required rather than waiting and potentially having the cancer spread. This tool is being developed by the NHS Tsar, national cancer director Professor Mike Richards and his team.