Transforming Cancer Services has been supporting the London and South East Sarcoma Network’s (LSESN) clinical advisory group and London Region Specialised Commissioning team on the soft tissue sarcoma diagnostic pathway.

In November, we held a successful workshop with key stakeholders across London, the East and South East of England, which identified three key challenges:

• Addressing issues with acute service delivery at the Royal Marsden Hospital and the need for mutual aid within the network.
• Ensuring the diagnostic pathway fits the needs of the patients, reducing variation in access, removing backlogs, improving sustainability and delivering best practice.
• Clarifying some aspects of the national service specification regarding diagnostics and a timed pathway.

We’re committed to addressing these challenges, and will be:

• continuing to support services with the mutual aid process;
• conducting a survey with existing sarcoma diagnostic clinics to map service models, activity and diagnostic pathways both within and outside of the LSESN;
• developing a service specification for sarcoma diagnostic clinics to standardise delivery;
• scoping locations for an additional two diagnostic clinics within the LSESN;
• developing an imaging protocol for sonographers and radiologists with the regional Imaging Programme;
• developing an evaluation framework for the sarcoma diagnostic clinics,

Following the workshop, we’ve also completed several actions for improvement.

• Delivered a communications campaign to primary care across the LSESN region.
• Raised the issue of an unclear diagnostic pathway within the national sarcoma service specification and discussed next steps.
• Explored the potential for local sarcoma diagnostic clinics in Kent and Essex with the LSESN and respective cancer alliances.
• Finalised the revised London sarcoma two week wait form, published at the end of January.

For more information, please contact Liz.Price4@nhs.net