PHARMACISTS will be able to fast-track patients for cancer checks under a radical tests shake-up.
NHS bosses want to speed up efforts to catch tumours early — when survival chances are the highest.
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The new scheme will give pharmacists the power to send anyone with possible early symptoms directly for hospital tests.
At the moment, patients must see their GP before they can get cancer checks.
But with many practices overrun, many are struggling to get an appointment.
The pilot scheme will be trialled in hundreds of high street pharmacies later this year and rolled out if successful.
Other plans to boost detection include NHS liver scan trucks outside GP surgeries and shops.
And tens of thousands more people will be offered genetic testing for high-risk mutations.
Charities have warned of a backlog of cancer cases post pandemic.
NHS boss Amanda Pritchard will today urge those people with possible symptoms to come forward.
Speaking at the NHS ConfedExpo in Liverpool, she will say: “These plans have the power to truly transform the way we find and treat cancer.”
Michelle Mitchell, of Cancer Research UK, said: “By changing the way people engage with the health service, we have the potential to help diagnose more cancers at an earlier, more treatable stage.”