A year of consultations between experienced cancer doctors and other specialists has produced a three-year program that Alberta Health Services (AHS) believes will shrink waiting times for individuals diagnosed with lung cancer.
Announced late Friday afternoon, the Expedited Management of Lung Cancer program will establish two rapid access clinics — one each in Edmonton and Calgary — as focal points for patients. Physician-backed nurses and nurse practitioners will help guide individuals through the range of required diagnostic tests that must be performed before a treatment can be recommended.
The goal, according to the news release, is to ensure that 75 per cent of patients wait no longer than 30 days from the time of referral from their doctor to when a treatment decision is made, and no longer than a 60-day wait if surgery is required.
Funded by AHS, the program will cost $15.4 million and will see an additional 184 lung cancer surgeries performed in Edmonton and Calgary each year, bringing the total to 1,600 annually.
“This program tackles the issues that can potentially delay treatment and applies solutions consistently across the province,” said Dr. Paul Grundy, acting senior vice president and senior medical director cancer care.
The program will also include an additional 1,300 diagnostic bronchoscopies each year, a 70 per cent increase over previous years. There will also be 500 more CT-guided biopsies for lung cancer — up 46 per cent — and clear provincial referral and treatment guidelines in place by July 2012.
“This program ensures that all Albertans — no matter where they live — have co-ordinated and improved access to lung cancer assessment, diagnostic testing and treatment,” said Health and Wellness Minister Fred Horne in the release.
According to AHS, lung cancer is the number one cause of deaths in Alberta, killing more people than breast, colon and prostate cancers combined. The agency estimates that 2,000 Albertans will be diagnosed with lung cancer this year while more than 1,500 will die from it.
