Clinical Audit Of A Symptomatic Breast Clinic In North Wales District General Hospital

Abstract

We describe an audit of our symptomatic new patient breast clinic over a period of 4 weeks. A total of 162 new patients attended over 8 consecutive clinics during 4 weeks, from 03 October 2010 to 02 November 2010, were included in the audit. Urgent suspected cancer referrals were seen significantly sooner than routine referrals. 90% of the urgent suspected cancer referrals were seen within 20 days of GP referral to the first appointment in the clinic and 30% in case of routine referrals. 100% of patients diagnosed with breast cancer had their first treatment within 62 days of an urgent GP referral with suspected breast cancer. 100% of patients diagnosed with breast cancer had their first treatment (both surgical/non-surgical) within 31 days of the decision to treat. We achieved 100%, compared to audit standards based on British Association of Surgical Oncology guidelines (BASO) for breast cancer management. Hence, we closed the audit cycle.