REFERRAL PATTERNS FOR PATIENTS WITH SARCOMA IN THE NORTHERN & YORKSHIRE NHS REGION. WHERE TO TARGET THE MESSAGE?

Aim: To describe referral pathways and assess delays in order to inform targeting of educational initiatives. Methods: Anonymised data on all patients with non-gynaecological sarcoma over 2 years (1999–2000), was obtained from the Northern & Yorkshire Cancer Registry. Results: 362 cases were registered (29 per million). Patients were referred to a maximum of three hospitals. Of 86 managed solely at the first hospital, 13 were treated at a specialist centre. 225 (59.8%) eventually reached a sarcoma specialist centre. Those referred for further treatment were younger compared to those managed at the initial hospital (median age 55–59 vs 65–69 years) p Conclusion: Evidence suggests that sarcoma treatment is best undertaken by specialist multi-disciplinary teams. However, less than 60% of patients regionally access specialist management, and many experience considerably delay in the referral pathway. Patients referred on from the initial treating hospital tend to be younger and may have had shorter duration of symptoms. Further work is needed to quantify referral delays in primary care. Future guidelines may therefore be usefully targeted both at primary and secondary care.