TOPLINE:
The "superclinic" is a promising model for addressing the backlog of UK patients referred for evaluation of suspected skin cancer.
FEATURES:
- A university hospital started offering a weekly superclinic for patients referred because of suspected skin cancer.
- The clinic was designed to evaluate 30 new patients in 5-minute slots over 2.5 hours, and has three dedicated examination rooms.
- It uses a team of three to six junior doctors, a senior clinical nurse specialist, a supervising consultant, and a healthcare assistant.
- The team evaluates only the index lesion unless the patient has significant sun damage.
- An adjacent operating theatre staffed by a junior doctor offers same-day biopsies and excision surgery.
EXPERIENCE:
- Over a 4-week period, 95 (16%) of 578 referred patients were seen in the superclinic.
- On average, each superclinic had four junior doctors.
- The superclinic always had sufficient capacity to perform same-day biopsies, an option especially helpful for patients who were elderly or disabled, or lived far away.
- Of the 43 patients suspected to have skin cancer, 36 were booked for biopsy or excision on the same day or later.
- The rest were prescribed topical treatment or referred to other specialists for management.
IN PRACTICE:
This model "is particularly suitable for our unit with many trainees, as it maximises efficient use of consultant time," the authors wrote. "The [superclinic] allows dermatology trainees to see a higher number of lesions than in traditional clinics allowing not only [an] increasing capacity but also improving education. Consultant supervision of every patient reduces unnecessary follow-ups, increasing clinic capacity," they added.
SOURCE:
The study was led by Nina Mann, University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust, Derby, UK, and was published online in the journal Clinical and Experimental Dermatology.
DISCLOSURES:
The study did not receive funding. The authors reported no conflicts of interest.
