Skin - Teledermatology
The use of teledermatology continues to be a priority in NHS England’s planning guidance.
Thank you for your support in making excellent progress with teledermatology so far. There has been a significant increase in the number of Advice and Guidance requests coming through to MWL consultants, meaning more patients have been reassured sooner. This has contributed to our aim of better care for our patients.
On average 92% of patients referred to Hospital are not diagnosed with skin cancer and are subsequently treated for less serious conditions. Unfortunately, the number of 2WW referrals has started to rise as we approach the summer months. So, we want to encourage Advice and Guidance requests, including the use of teledermatology, as a first step where there is benefit to the patient in getting a specialist opinion before a referral into the skin cancer pathway.
Advice and Guidance requests will be responded to within two working days, and most requests are responded to within twenty-four hours. This means that GPs can quickly reassure many patients that their condition is not cancer and may be helped with treatment prescribed by the GP.
Most local GP practices have been provided with dermatoscopes. If your practice does not yet have a dermatoscope, please talk to your Place Team, who will be happy to help.
Where GPs are certain that the patient’s clinical symptoms meet the ‘two week wait’ referral guidelines, they should continue to submit a referral to the 2WW skin cancer pathway.
MWL and the Place Team will continue to work together to provide individual feedback and support to practices.
Useful Information
When submitting Advice and Guidance (A&G) requests, please remember:
- One lesion per request (for clinical governance purposes
- Provide dermoscopic images of the lesion
- Ensure images are correctly labelled
- Ensure the image is of good quality
