Patients with suspected lung cancer will be able to access specialist diagnostic testing faster and closer to home following the launch of a new robotic bronchoscopy service at St Mary’s Hospital, the first in north west London.
Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust expects the new service will improve access to testing for more than 200 patients each year and help reduce delays in receiving a cancer diagnosis. Until now, many patients from north west London needing the procedure were referred to hospitals elsewhere in London, where waits could be up to eight weeks.
Establishing the service locally has already dramatically reduced waiting time, leading to faster diagnosis, a better patient experience and faster treatment.
The Trust has invested £1.2 million to establish the service at St Mary’s Hospital, which includes cutting edge robotic and imaging technology. This brings specialist capability to north west London for the first time, with the service now up and running and the first patients seen.
Robotic bronchoscopy combines advanced imaging and robotic navigation technology to help clinicians reach small or difficult-to-access areas of the lung and take tissue samples for testing. It can also allow doctors to sample more than one suspicious area and check nearby lymph nodes during the same procedure, reducing the need for patients to return for additional tests. Patients can usually go home the same day and there is a low risk of complications. The technology also increases the likelihood of obtaining a tissue sample that can provide a diagnosis.
Around one-in-five lung cancer patients across north west London need this type of specialist investigation.
Dr Clare Ross, respiratory consultant at Imperial College Healthcare, said: “Getting a diagnosis quickly and accurately is one of the most important steps in a patient’s cancer journey. This technology gives us more options when investigating lung lesions that can be difficult to access, helping us gather the information we need to make informed decisions about diagnosis and treatment. It’s an important development for patients across north west London and for the teams caring for them.”
Patient story
Ricardo, the first patient to undergo the procedure at the Trust, successfully underwent robotic bronchoscopy after two earlier biopsy attempts were unable to obtain the tissue sample needed to confirm his diagnosis. He also sustained a punctured lung during one of the earlier procedures (a known risk with the traditional method biopsy). He went on to have surgery to remove the cancer and is now recovering well.
Ricardo said: “When you’re told you might have cancer, your mind goes into overdrive. After my first biopsy didn’t work, I was worried about having to go through it all again because it was so painful. But with the robotic procedure I didn’t feel a thing, and they were able to get the sample they needed. Within a few weeks I’d had my operation, and now they’ve told me they’ve removed all the cancer. It honestly feels like I’ve been given another chance at life.”
