RESUMO
Background: As the incidence of head and neck cancer continues to rise, the volume of referrals to our urgent suspected cancer clinics continues to rise with it. Cancer referral and review time targets are not being met within the UK, and our centre has experienced an increase in volume of referrals which cannot be met by available clinic slots. We proposed a pathway to the North East London Cancer Alliance to safely triage these patients using the Head and Neck Cancer Risk Calculator version 2 (HaNC-RCv2). Methods: All 2-week-wait referrals to our unit in June 2023 were initially triaged in a telephone consultation by a specialty registrar working in the department. A brief history would be taken, and a risk score calculated. Those scoring < 5% were moved to routine or less urgent follow up. Results: 120 patients were referred to our department. We were able to safely triage 48.7% patients off the urgent suspected cancer pathway and to routine follow up. A total of 3 patients were found to have a head and neck malignancy and all were treated within the 62 day window. Conclusion: As trusts work to cut the waiting times following the COVID-19 pandemic, there is an evident need for more efficient practices. The use of validated, safe triaging methods such as this can play a central role.
RESUMO
Otorhinolaryngology, or Ear Nose and throat (ENT), is a specialty requiring specific equipment for the management and treatment of patients. While most hospitals provide a 24/7 ENT procedure room, there is also a need for a mobile equipment bag with objects and instruments not readily available outside of the ENT department. We look to introduce a novel ENT equipment bag and checklist which has been updated to include a list of required equipment in the setting of the current COVID-19 pandemic. For the ENT equipment bag we use a high visibility multi-compartment bag. In addition to this, the bag contains four folders, labelled "Ear", "Nose", "Throat" and "Drugs". The necessary ENT equipment is divided and included within these folders. The bag also contains a copy of the "ENT bag checklist". This is a list, designed by the Whipps Cross ENT team, which specifies the required ENT equipment, including PPE in light of the current COVID-19 pandemic. The bag is stocked once a week using this list. Using this new system we developed a portable, practical and easy to use ENT on call equipment bag that included all of the relevant PPE to manage COVID-19 patients. We also implemented a new method of bag stocking to ensure that the bag is adequately stocked. In conclusion, we present a COVID-19 updated ENT bag and checklist. We hope this will help act as a reference for other ENT teams to compare and implement during the current COVID-19 pandemic.
