Ten-year outcomes of the first 'one-stop haematuria clinic' in an Australian public hospital.

BACKGROUND: Urgent assessment of haematuria is critical to exclude malignancy. The utilization of haematuria clinics in Australia remains in its infancy. It is hoped that the streamlined investigative service will achieve earlier diagnosis of urological malignancy and subsequently decrease morbidity and mortality. We report the 10-year prospectively collected outcomes from Australia's first dedicated one-stop haematuria clinic (OSHC). METHODS: Since its commencement in May 2008 through to July 2018, all consecutive patients assessed in the OSHC were included in the analysis. Data collected included demographics, presentation, wait times, investigation, assessment, initial treatment, referral and histopathology. RESULTS: A total of 3008 patients were seen in the OSHC with non-visible haematuria (1024, 34%) and visible haematuria (1984, 66%). Three hundred and twenty-seven (10.9%) patients were diagnosed with urothelial malignancy. In all, 306 (10.2%) patients had lower tract disease and 21 (0.7%) had upper tract disease. Urothelial cases were compiled of 123 (37.6%) Ta LG, 39 (11.9%) Ta HG, 21 (6.4%) Tis, 67 (20.5%) T1 and 77 (23.6%) T2-4. Urothelial malignancy was diagnosed more often in males (odds ratio (OR) 1.74, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.35-2.25), older patients elder than 60 years (OR 1.97, 95% CI 1.47-2.64) and patients with visible haematuria (OR 5.42, 95% CI 3.73-7.86). In all, 53.4% of patients were discharged after a single visit to the OSHC. CONCLUSION: The OSHC has served as an effective tool for rapid, streamlined assessment of patients presenting with haematuria. This model of care has been subsequently adopted by numerous public centres across Australia. Current funding structures present a barrier to this excellent approach for rapid access diagnostics.

Exploring pathways towards improving patient experience of robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP): assessing patient satisfaction and attitudes.

OBJECTIVE: To determine patient satisfaction and experience after robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) for prostate cancer, using a convergent mixed-method qualitative analysis approach. PATIENTS AND METHODS: 412 patients who underwent RARP between January 2014 and June 2016 were mailed questionnaires and invited to participate in focus groups. Qualitative data was thematically analysed using NVivo. Descriptive statistics were obtained from the questionnaire using SPSS. RESULTS: 214 patients responded (52% of sample size) of whom 97.6% were satisfied and 91.1% would likely recommend RARP. Key themes from the qualitative data highlighted the psychosocial impacts of the diagnosis and RARP process. The importance of early recovery, the benefits of pelvic floor exercises and educational resources were emphasised. CONCLUSION: Patients were overwhelmingly satisfied with RARP, largely due to relevance and timeliness of the information and support provided both before and after surgery. With an increased understanding of the factors and outcomes that are most important to patients regarding all aspects of hospital care, we can create more targeted care pathways. Key themes will help inform the implementation of an enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) protocol to further improve recovery and early return to function.