Online system helps manage prostate cancer treatment

The Clinical Decision Support System (CDSS) has successfully been piloted in Derby and Nottingham, and has been commissioned by Derby City Primary Care Trust.

The CDSS processes a patient’s symptoms and test results to enable professionals to determine when patients need to see a hospital consultant, and which cases can be more effectively monitored and treated by general practitioners and nurses in the community.

The system will mean that patients with less complex conditions will not have to make repeat trips to hospital, while consultants will have more time to focus on and treat the most serious urological disorders.

Mr Mike Henley, consultant urologist for Derby Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, headed up the collaborative project between the trust and Mansfield-based companies iQudos and MS3.

Speaking about the system, Fred Jacobs, chief executive officer of iQudos and MS3, said: ’Consultants are still vital for diagnosing and treating patients. This system supports nursing staff to provide treatment and recommend disease management for the local GP, freeing up time for the hospital consultants to perform more complicated or urgent procedures.’