Single Queue Diagnostics

As part of the Greater Manchester Cancer COVID19 recovery plan, the Single Queue Diagnostic project aims to create a referral portal using Infoflex ® . This is a web based solution to enable appointments to be visible at different hospital trust sites across Greater Manchester, enabling patients to be offered a choice of dates and hospital trusts with available appointments. The two diagnostic tests chosen for this pilot are Endobronchial Ultrasound (EBUS) and Endoscopic Ultrasound (EUS).

By creating ‘Single Queue’ we hope to help reduce any delays at the front end of the patients pathway.  This will enable all available EBUS or EUS appointment slots in Greater Manchester to be seen, and the patient has the option to travel further within the region to have their test more quickly, if they would prefer. 

Feedback from our service users informed us that the majority of patients would like to be offered an earlier day even if it meant travelling further. Often patients find the period of waiting and not knowing a difficult part of their cancer pathway, and the ‘Single Queue’ system helps to reduce that period of time.

“During the past 12 months I have been actively involved with The Single Queue Diagnostics Pathway Board and have been amazed at the work done behind the scenes by clinicians to shorten the time  it takes to give a diagnosis to people suspected of having cancer.

The Single Queue Diagnostics offers people undergoing tests for cancer the option to shorten the wait for some investigations by offering appointments at the first available hospital, instead of having to wait for local hospital appointments to become available.

Work designed to achieve a faster diagnosis for the patient, and subsequently faster access to treatment, can only be welcomed by myself as a previous cancer patient and part of the user involvement team.

I am so proud to have been associated with this team.”

John Tattum, User Involvement Representative

Using the new referral system

This training is for referrers, bookers and schedulers of EBUS for lung cancer patients. It is a recording of live training given to staff in October 2020 who were also a part of the development of the tool itself. The training will take you through the steps needed to book a patient onto a test, and how to schedule those appointment slots on the InfoFlex system.
This training is for referrers, bookers and schedulers of EUS for gastric cancer patients. It is a recording of live training given to staff in February 2021 who were also a part of the development of the tool itself. The training will take you through the steps needed to book a patient onto a test, and how to schedule those appointment slots on the InfoFlex system.

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