From test to patient pathway
Behind every test, there is a human being waiting. Fast and precise diagnostics are important for the entire cancer course.
Skin cancer affects many people, and melanoma is a serious form of skin cancer. Melanoma is among the cancers that are increasing the most in Norway, and early diagnosis and treatment are important for the prognosis.
When a skin sample is sent to a pathology laboratory, a diagnostic process begins that the patient does not usually see. The sample must go through several work steps before the result can be used further by the clinician. If there are delays in the laboratory, it can affect the entire course of the cancer.
For the patient, response time is not just about operation and efficiency. It is about waiting time, anxiety, further investigation, choice of treatment and the start of treatment.
Norway has ambitions for high-quality cancer care. The national cancer strategy points out that the number of cancer cases will increase towards 2040, that staff shortages are an important challenge, and that the quality of Norwegian cancer care must be even better.
If Norway is to succeed in offering high-quality cancer care, it must also invest in the diagnostic services that make early and precise treatment possible.
This survey will contribute knowledge about how pathology laboratories can be equipped for increasing needs – without the solution simply being that professionals have to run faster.