CONSULTANTS and doctors have begun “speed dating” to improve cancer prevention and early diagnosis for patients.

The unusual approach is aimed at getting greater numbers of people taking part in screening programmes and helping doctors refer the right patients for tests promptly.

The medics get together for informal evening sessions which are timed and they move tables when a bell rings.

Like normal speed dating, participants are hoping for positive relationships but in this case they are professional, medical ones.

Each “date” in Hastings and Rother is 15 minutes long and each table has a different cancer speciality such as lung, breast, haematology, gastro intestinal and radiology.

The go-between for the dating sessions is a team of health facilitators from Cancer Research UK, who organise the dates and make the introductions.

The facilitators for the South East – Emily Burn and Sarah Spencer-Bowdage – have been working with GPs, hospitals and healthcare planners in Hastings and Rother Primary and Secondary Care.

The sessions have been a runaway success with both GPs and consultants asking for more.

Sarah said: “We’ve held two sessions so far and they have indeed led to some great relationships. An average GP will see 8,000 patients a year but only around seven of those will turn out to have cancer.

“The huge challenge for doctors working within a constantly stretched NHS system is correctly identifying patients whose symptoms may indicate cancer and urgently referring them. We go into GP practices and talk with them about prevention and earlier diagnosis of cancer, their data and ideas for improvements and follow up with training, advice and resources.

“Out of these meetings, came the idea for the speed dating.”