How many clinical nurse specialists in the Welsh NHS specialise in brain tumours and what steps is the Welsh Government taking with Public Health Wales to ensure that all brain tumour patients have access to a named clinical nurse specialist?
There are more than 200 types of cancer and around a dozen main cancer sites, such as brain and central nervous system cancer. It is not practical to raise and sustain public awareness of each cancer type, the symptoms associated with them and the public response required. The approach we have taken in Wales is to encourage people to contact their GP where they notice significant or prolonged changes in their physical health. This guidance will capture many low level and subtle symptoms that are associated with many types of cancer. We also work with and amplify public messaging from charities that deliver evidence-based public messaging.
The Welsh Government does not routinely collect data on the number of cancer nurse specialists in Wales broken down by cancer type. Health boards are responsible for deploying their available cancer nurse specialist workforce to meet population need.
Official statistics on the NHS workforce are available on StatsWales.
The number of referrals for brain and central nervous system cancers across Wales is relatively small and therefore it is difficult to draw any firm conclusions regarding the number of people detected during the pandemic. Prior to the pandemic there were around 19 referrals per month and between October 2020 and November 2021 this has been exceeded in 11 of the 14 months. This suggests that more people are being referred for suspected brain and central nervous system cancers than before the pandemic. Given the small number of cases and the limitations of the historic modelling it is not possible to determine with any accuracy if there is a deficit in diagnoses as a result of the pandemic.