Adapting a 2-week-wait colorectal service in the pandemic using the quantitative faecal immunochemical test.

The coronavirus pandemic has brought about an economic and healthcare crisis. This has resulted in delays in virtually all areas of patient care and has forced clinicians to review and adapt their processes, in order to ensure patients continue to have access to timely and effective services. In the author's local Trust, this manifested in altered protocols, developed in order to maintain patient and staff safety while conducting invasive and potentially virus-spreading investigations.

Setting up a nurse-led bowel 'two week wait' service.

Patients who present to their GP with 'red flag' symptoms for possible bowel cancer (such as change in bowel habit or rectal bleeding) are urgently referred to an acute trust as a '2 week wait' (2WW) patient and require assessment and investigation in an efficient and timely manner. The burden that is created by ever increasing numbers of referrals requires a service that is reliable and flexible in meeting demand. This article presents the development of a nurse-led 2WW service that was implemented as a direct result of this pressure.

Patient satisfaction with clinicians in colorectal 2-week wait clinics.

Aim: To determine if patient satisfaction is affected by the clinician (nurse or doctor), conducting the colorectal 2-week wait (2ww) clinics.

Methods: A prospective non-randomised comparative cohort study of 339 consecutive patients (divided by blind allocation into nurse-led (n=216) and doctor-led (n=123) cohorts) conducted over a 3-month period. Patient satisfaction in both cohorts was assessed by an adapted version of the Grogan et al validated patient satisfaction questionnaire.

Anti-embolism stockings: are they used effectively and correctly?

Anti-embolism stockings are widely advocated in the prevention of deep vein thrombosis. But do they do more harm than good? This article explores the effectiveness of this intervention and the possible link with heel pressure ulceration, an increasing problem which costs the NHS millions of pounds and causes suffering to patients. With the aid of an audit tool the author assesses nursing knowledge and reveals that, although there is a high level of understanding regarding post-application care, the appropriate initiation of the intervention and subsequent documentation of this intervention are severely lacking, leaving the health profession wide open to litigation.