Irish medical journal
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Irish medical journal · Feb 2011
NCCP breast cancer referral guidelines--are breast cancer patients prioritised?
Following centralisation of breast cancer services, the National Cancer Control Programme (NCCP) introduced referral guidelines indicating which patients require urgent, early and routine review. This study prospectively analysed referrals to a symptomatic breast unit over 3 months to measure Primary Care Physician (GP) uptake of the NCCP referral guidelines, compare triage patterns of GP and consultant breast surgeon and evaluate the efficacy of the guidelines at identifying patients with breast cancer. 1044 consecutive referrals were categorised according to NCCP guidelines. 637 (61%) were referred using the NCCP form. GP referrals correlated well with consultant breast surgeon for patients requiring urgent review (r = 0.71, p < 0.001; Pearson). ⋯ NCCP guidelines were 91% sensitive for triaging breast cancer patients into the correct (urgent) category. The NCCP guidelines are accurate and should be considered the gold-standard for referral to the symptomatic breast service. Consideration should be given to a GP-delivered service to patients outside the "urgent" category.
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Irish medical journal · Feb 2011
Acute medical assessment units: an efficient alternative to in-hospital acute medical care.
Acute Medical Assessment Units (AMAUs) are being proposed as an alternative to congested Emergency Departments (EDs for the assessment of patients with a range of acute medical problems. We retrospectively reviewed the discharge destination of patients referred to a newly established AMAU during a six-month period. ⋯ The AMAU provides this, and as a consequence admission rates are relatively low. This is achieved by directly communicating with GPs, accessing senior clinical decision makers, and providing immediate access to diagnostically driven outpatient pathways.