Fast-track care is on the cards for patients in the Bradford area with suspected bowel cancer thanks to a major cash injection.

Ministers have awarded hospitals in Bradford and Airedale £100,000 under a national initiative to improve colorectal cancer services and reduce the number of deaths from the disease.

A total of 41 people from the Bradford district died in 1997-98 from bowel cancers which are the second most common cause of cancer death affecting people aged over 50.

Among the new initiatives will be:

l A reduction in waiting times from up to ten weeks to a fortnight for a key diagnostic test for the disease in Bradford in a one-off £45,000 waiting-list blitz.

l Two new nurse specialists in Bradford and Airedale to develop services and help patients.

l New hi-tech equipment worth £42,000 at Airedale General Hospital which will speed up diagnoses.

Ministers have ordered progress reports on improvements to colorectal services using the cash over the next year.

Head of imaging at Bradford Hospitals NHS Trust, Dr Roger Lowe, said the cash was a welcome boost.

About 150 people were waiting for barium enemas which was the main test for bowel cancers and a number of other conditions.

He said about 140 patients undergoing the test were diagnosed with bowel cancers each year and the cash would reduce the time patients waited which was obviously an anxious period.

"It will mean the time from when patients are seen by the consultant to having the test will be reduced. The shorter we can keep that the better," he said.

"We are already gearing ourselves up to do some extra scanning sessions and will be asking for volunteers to staff them."

Doug Farrow, director of planning and marketing at Airedale NHS Trust, said the new specialist nurse would offer advice and information to patients both in the hospital and the community about the implications of their diagnosis and treatment options. An extra diagnostic session was also planned while the major investment in additional specialist equipment would speed up diagnosis.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.