More survivors of cancer but more are needed to shorten the queues

More patients than ever in Stockholm County survive cancer. In addition, the waiting times in several cancers are shorter here than if compared with the national average.

But there are still major challenges, especially in radiation therapy for head and neck cancer as well as lung cancer, even though Stockholm is better than the state in terms of drug treatment for, among other things, lung cancer.

More efforts are required to shorten the queues. The provision of skills is one of several important elements.

- We have a need for more expertise, especially nurses and specialist nurses. But not only are more people enough, we also need to change our way of working. We need to work smarter and in networks, and there we need digital solutions to make the expertise available, says Ralf Segerswaard, business developer at the Regional Cancer Center.

The Regional Cancer Center started four years ago with a focus on so-called standardized care programs, SVF. The purpose of the initiative is to shorten the waiting times in cancer care. Patients should avoid waiting unnecessarily long from suspected cancer to treatment and medical treatment, regardless of where in the country the patient is located.

The goal is that by 2020, 70 per cent of all patients with cancer will be investigated according to SVF, and 80 per cent of these patients will be able to get started on treatment within the set time set as the target.

Cancer care in Stockholm has reached the target of investigation by 76 percent, but in terms of the goal of getting started with the treatment, work continues from the current 46 percent to reach the 80 percent target.

If you break down the figures, cancer care has achieved its goals or is close to reaching them in several different forms of cancer, while others have some distance left.

By shortening the meat times, it is hoped that fewer will suffer from cancer and more will survive.

- We have an aging population and cancer is the older man's disease after all. Therefore, one of our goals is to start with early detection and prevention to prevent cancer disease.