A real-world evaluation of the rapid diagnostic clinic roll out in South East London.

Introduction: Rapid Diagnostic Clinics (RDCs) are an established urgent suspected cancer pathway in England and Wales for patients presenting with non-site-specific (NSS) but concerning symptoms for cancer.

Methods: This evaluation included data from a six-month period from 1 September 2022 to 28 February 2023. Information on all patients seen at the three South East London (SEL) RDCs within this six month period was extracted from the REDCap database. Data were analyzed according to several evaluation domains: efficiency, effectiveness (including information on patient demographics, number of referrals, referral outcomes) and patient and GP experience.

Results: Eight hundred and sixty-two patients were seen by the SEL RDCs. Most patients came from referrals from general practitioners (GPs) (93%). Only 24 patients (4.5%) were re-referred to the RDC or another specialty within 90 days of discharge and none of these patients were subsequently diagnosed with cancer. There were 47 subsequent cancer diagnoses (6%). The proportion of serious benign conditions diagnosed ranged from 15% to 19% per month. Patient and GP experiences were very positive about the service.

Conclusions: This evaluation has demonstrated that the SEL RDC services provide an effective pathway for the management of patients with concerning non-site-specific symptoms with the ability to diagnose both cancer and non-cancer conditions.