Patient access to lung cancer specialist nurses drops

Patient access to lung cancer nurse specialists has fallen, according to a national report published by the Royal College of Physicians.

The National Lung Cancer Audit report revealed that last year 78% of patients diagnosed with lung cancer in England were seen by a specialist nurse, compared with 84% in 2013.

The number of patients seen by a specialist nurse also varied across organisations, with almost all being seen at some trusts and as little as 0.4% at others.

In 2014 the annual report recommended that at least 80% of patients should be seen by a lung cancer nurse specialist (LCNS).

The audit's clinical lead, Ian Woolhouse, said: 'There are a lot of different pulls on the specialist nurse's time, including being required to work on wards in a non-specialist role due to understaffing.

'Specific clinics could be created so LCNS can avoid going to different sites at different times of the week across their organisations. There could also be an electronic system for nurses to record the time spent with patients and outcomes.'

Dr Woolhouse added that the audit was going to increase the recommendation for patients seen by a LCNS from 80% to 90%.

He said two new clinical improvement leads were being appointed to the audit group and would be assessing key points raised by the report, including the numbers seen by a specialist nurse.

LCNS and vice-chair of the International Thoracic Oncology Nursing Forum Maria Guerin said: 'Often additional doctors are called in to clinic to cope with increased capacity, but there are no additional nurse resources.'

Jeanette Draffan, a co-lead Macmillan LCNS and representative of the National Lung Cancer Forum for Nurses on the audit's strategic group, said: 'Some organisations may be struggling to fill posts as specialist nurses leave, and there are LCNS who work alone without any support, so if they are off for any reason patients do not get seen.

'We are getting more two-week patient referrals from GPs and while the advancements in treatment for lung cancer are fabulous, they do mean we need to support the patient through the treatments.

'LCNS do not always get the recognition they deserve. We support patients physically, psychologically and socially and some trusts view us as a luxury. We are not, we are a necessity.'

To read the report click here