Urology service provides faster cancer diagnosis for patients | News

Royal Surrey's Urology service has been recognised as among the quickest in England for providing a cancer diagnosis for patients referred into the Trust.

Since February, the Trust’s Urology service, treating patients with suspected cancers of the urinary system and the male reproductive system, has been ranked first nationally in England for the Faster Diagnosis Standard (FDS).

The FDS tracks how quickly patients referred with suspected cancer receive a diagnosis or have cancer ruled out, with data currently available until April 2026.

The national target is for at least 80 per cent of patients to have cancer either confirmed or ruled out within 28 days. In April, Royal Surrey's Urology team achieved an FDS performance of over 91 per cent - the highest in England.

Patients also received answers more quickly than the national standard requires, with an average time to diagnosis of just 18 days.

Urology cares for patients with suspected cancers of the prostate, bladder, renal system, testicles and penis. Diagnosing these conditions often involves a combination of MRI scans, CT scans, biopsies and other specialist investigations, with patients moving through several hospital departments before a diagnosis can be confirmed or excluded.

A key factor behind the service's success is the seamless coordination of the wider multidisciplinary team involved in every stage of the patient pathway. Administrative staff, specialist nurses, clinicians, radiologists, pathologists and diagnostic teams work collaboratively to ensure patients progress through often complex investigations as efficiently as possible. 

Urology Cancer Navigators Jenny Smith and Angela Baldomir (pictured above) play a pivotal role in coordinating the diagnostic pathway, ensuring patients are booked promptly for the investigations they need while overseeing each step of the process to keep the pathway running smoothly.

Jenny said: "Diagnosing urological cancers isn't the work of one team, it's a huge collaborative effort involving multiple departments across the hospital. A patient may need an MRI scan, a CT scan, biopsies and specialist appointments before we can give them an answer.

"Our role is to make sure every part of that pathway is joined up. We spend a lot of time communicating with different departments, letting them know what's coming and making sure patients are booked into the right tests as quickly as possible. It's that work behind the scenes, and everyone's willingness to work together, that has helped us achieve these results.”

Dimitrios Moschonas, Consultant Urological Surgeon and Clinical Director for Urology at Royal Surrey, said: "We're incredibly proud that patients are getting answers more quickly. Whether that means starting treatment sooner or being reassured they don't have cancer, we know how important it is to reduce the anxiety of waiting."

So far this year, Royal Surrey has diagnosed or ruled out urological cancer for around 900 patients, making the service's achievement even more significant.

The service has maintained consistently high performance throughout the year, ranking first nationally since February for each of the reported months up to and including April and averaging third place nationally across 2026 to date.