Outrage as NHS pilots service staffed by nurses for patients who can't get a GP appointment - Daily Mail

A Tory MP has expressed outrage after a health minister announced the NHS is piloting new cancer hotlines for patients who cannot get a GP appointment. .

Maria Caulfield, minister for patient safety and primary care, told the Health and Social Care Committee the NHS is piloting cancer hotlines staffed by nurse specialists as a route towards rapid diagnosis of the disease?

After hearing from Ms Neptial, Ms Caulfield said that the NHS would be piloting the cancer hotline as well as new rapid diagnostic centres.

The NHS is piloting new cancer hotlines for patients who are concerned about their symptoms but cannot get a GP appointment, Maria Caulfield told MPs (stock image).

Speaking about the hotline, Ms Caulfield said if patients did not feel they are 'being listened to', they could phone up the hotline to share their symptoms with a cancer specialist nurse.

She explained: 'A patient themselves - if they feel that they're not being listened to or they're having difficulty getting assessments done - they can phone up that hotline, go through their symptoms, go through the experience that they've had, and that cancer nurse specialist can get them into the cancer pathway as well.

A cancer hotline was set up by St Helens and Knowsley NHS Trust amid the pandemic to help people with symptoms come forward.

But Mr Hunt, who is chair of the Health and Social Care Select Committee, said instead of introducing new hotlines, the clinician who originally talks to the patient needs to listen to them instead. .

Ms Caulfield (pictured) told the Health and Social Care Committee the NHS is piloting cancer hotlines staffed by nurse specialists as a route towards rapid diagnosis of the disease.

She went on to say that a specialist nurse on a cancer hotline would be able to pick up on a patient's symptoms, but admitted that the hotlines were not an 'absolute solution'. .

Ms Caulfield continued: 'Having that cancer hotline, with a specialist nurse who would pick up on Judith's symptoms and would think we need to get this lady seen as soon as possible, is one route in.

It comes after figures showed that half of women with suspected breast cancer are waiting more than the two-week target to see a specialist after being urgently referred by a GP?

Targets for cancer waiting times are being missed across the board, but breast cancer is faring worse than the rest. .

It comes after figures showed half of women with suspected breast cancer are waiting more than the two-week target to see a specialist after being referred by a GP (stock image).

Mr Javid said all types of cancer care 'remain a priority' and revealed he wants to launch a 'war on cancer' in an attempt to radically improve care for patients

'Under the Conservatives, thousands of patients with suspected breast cancer are left waiting for weeks on end with the insecurity of not knowing

'Yet the Health Secretary can't explain why breast cancer care is falling behind other forms of cancer, nor does the Government have a plan to fix it.'

Baroness Delyth Morgan, chief executive of the charity Breast Cancer Now, said: 'It's highly alarming that the most recent data shows record numbers of women with potential breast cancer symptoms are not being seen by a specialist within two weeks of referral

She added: 'The Government must set out how they will address the influx in demand for breast cancer services to prevent further deterioration in performance.'

Minesh Patel, head of policy at Macmillan Cancer Support, said: 'We have been sounding the alarm, loud and clear, about the desperately worrying state of cancer services for years