Skin shop: A new model for high-volume skin cancer care.

Introduction: Non-melanoma skin cancer incidence is increasing in New Zealand. Increased cost of care has led to service pressure and a review of models of care. A high-volume skin surgery service at Waikato Hospital has been developed to reduce service costs. This study examines the oncological safety of the new model.

Methods: Prospective data for all skin lesions excised were collected from December 2014 to December 2016. Primary outcomes were rate of complete excision, rate of incomplete excision and rate of narrow excision.

Results: A total of 2076 lesions were excised: 92% were complete, 4.2% were narrow and 3.2% were incomplete.

Conclusion: The rate of narrow and incomplete excisions was low in a service delivered by supervised surgical registrars. The Skin Shop model is safe, inexpensive and suitable for adaptation to safely reduce the cost of skin cancer surgery.