Cancer
Your cancer journey in Swansea Bay
It is predicted that up to 1 in 2 people will be diagnosed with cancer, this will continue to increase. Although many are successfully treated and cured of their disease.
Receiving a diagnosis of cancer or even the suspicion of cancer is the start of a cancer journey, which can become overwhelming if you are unaware of what that journey involves.
At Swansea Bay we aim to make your journey as straightforward as possible, keeping you informed throughout. It is our hope that by providing this overview of our services and explaining some of the steps in a cancer journey it will relieve some of your anxieties and provide reassurance of the care we provide.
Swansea Bay has three hospital sites, Morriston, Singleton and Neath Port Talbot hospitals. Patients could receive their diagnostic tests or operation at any one of these sites. Derrian Markham, the health board's Clinical Lead for cancer says: “We aim to diagnose and treat patients as close to their home whenever possible."
As soon as we receive an urgent suspected cancer referral, your journey is monitored by a cancer specific administration team, ensuring you move through each step of your pathway as quickly as possible.
Tests to diagnose the cancer, may be requested by your GP. These could include blood tests, x-rays, ultra sound or CT scans. To avoid delays in your pathway, you may be referred for further specialist tests before seeing a consultant in the hospital, this is called straight to test. These tests could include MRI, Endoscopy or PET CT (centralised at Singleton) and can be undertaken at any one of our three hospital sites.
If a cancer is diagnosed, you will be fast tracked and asked to see a consultant in outpatient clinic. At this stage you will be allocated a key worker who is usually a clinical nurse specialist. This person will be your single point of contact for any questions or concerns you may have.
All patients diagnosed with cancer are discussed at a specialist meeting called an MDT which includes surgeons, oncologists, radiologists, nurses and pathologists. The team is a group of experts who specialise in a particular cancer type and the meeting forms an important place for discussion of your cancer diagnosis and your treatment options.
Patients requiring surgery to treat their cancer, can be treated at one of our three hospital sites. More complex surgical treatments are undertaken at Morriston, as the intensive care unit is based there.
There are some cancers such as brain, sarcoma and liver that require surgery at more specialised centres outside of Swansea Bay, for example Birmingham and Cardiff. If you have your surgery outside of Swansea Bay, you will still remain under the care of your local consultant.
Swansea Bay is home to the South-West Wales Cancer Centre, based at Singleton Hospital. It is one of only three designated cancer centres in Wales, providing non- surgical interventions such as chemotherapy, ammino therapy and radiotherapy.
Rydym yn croesawu gohebiaeth a galwadau ffôn yn y Gymraeg neu'r Saesneg. Atebir gohebiaeth Gymraeg yn y Gymraeg, ac ni fydd hyn yn arwain at oedi. Mae’r dudalen hon ar gael yn Gymraeg drwy bwyso’r botwm ar y dde ar frig y dudalen.
We welcome correspondence and telephone calls in Welsh or English. Welsh language correspondence will be replied to in Welsh, and this will not lead to a delay. This page is available in Welsh by clicking ‘Cymraeg’ at the top right of this page.