As reported by BBC News, a new trial in Somerset will allow women with worrying breast symptoms to skip GP visits and book specialist clinic appointments via the NHS app, starting this November
A trial to let women with worrying breast cancer symptoms book appointments directly with diagnostic clinics without going to see their GP first is being planned in one region of England.
The pilot will take place in Somerset and start in November.
In the new trial, women contacting 111 online with worrying breast lumps will be referred directly to a specialist clinic through the NHS app, the government said. The scheme will be evaluated before being rolled out to any other parts of the country, it added.
Speaking at a GPs’ conference in Liverpool, the health secretary said he had heard staff and patients alike complain about “pointless appointments”.
Mr Streeting said it was “a waste of everyone’s time” that patients were passed to GPs by someone else in the NHS only for them to be referred on to someone else in the NHS.
Charity Breast Cancer Now said it welcomed the government’s focus on ensuring more people get referred to a specialist more quickly when they find a breast change.
The Royal College of GPs said the safety and effectiveness of the scheme would need to be rigorously evaluated.
