Blackpool Hospital’s tele-dermatology service provides faster diagnosis

A skin cancer service offered at Clifton Hospital, which is part of Blackpool Hospitals NHS Trust is leading the way in the region – increasing the number of patients who can be seen and reducing appointment cancellations.

The tele-dermatology service, running full time at the hospital since 2021, has been a huge success and following a visit by the NHS England Cancer Programme, team members were asked to present at the Faster Diagnosis Collaboration Event – a major NHS event – in February.

A medical photographer runs every clinic and is assisted by either a staff nurse or a health care assistant.

The service involves patients with suspected skin cancer being photographed by the medical photographers, and the images are then reviewed by the lead nurse or doctor within 48 hours. The images need to be of a high enough quality to enable diagnosis, and the Trust’s medical photography team have worked with clinicians to ensure this.

The process has allowed the department to see double the number of patients they would have seen previously and has stopped routine appointments being cancelled. Set up as a pilot scheme in 2019 the service has been running full time since January 2021.

Clifton Hospital’s Dermatology Lead Nurse Jane Sanderson is now the Head of Department at Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and has commended the whole team who have all been instrumental in ensuring the tele-dermatology service succeeds.

Despite dermatologist shortages being a national issue, because of approach taken with the Blackpool service, local skin cancer patients are seen within target despite a continued increase on demand each year. Other Trusts in the areas are now setting up similar services to improve their wait times.