“Talk Prostate” is an exciting new partnership between the NHS Surrey and Sussex Cancer Alliance(SSCA) and Medefer.
The partnership was established in spring 2022 and was set up in response to a below expected number of suspected prostate cancer referrals, and a drop in the number of prostate cancers being picked up during the Covid pandemic. Whilst this situation is now recovering, working in partnership with Medefer will allow the SSCA to achieve this extra work without adding to the burden already experienced by GPs.
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men. 1 in 8 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime. Whilst survival is high (78%) compared to other cancers, we still lose almost 12,000 men to this disease every year in the UK.
Medefer and SSCA are running a “case finding” project to identify 12,000 men across Surrey & Sussex who might most benefit from having a simple urine and PSA blood test, with the aim of detecting prostate cancers earlier and faster, without adding to GP workload. The project is designed to minimise the number of “false positives” (patients with a +ve test who do not have cancer) and to then refer these men to hospital as a suspected cancer referral where they will have an MRI of their prostate, and if necessary, a biopsy.