A pioneering one-stop cancer centre means people suspected of having the disease can be seen, diagnosed and started on a treatment plan – all in one day.

In most cases somebody going for a cancer check will have a blood test, have to leave and await results, be called back in for a screening, possibly have to await more results, and then eventually be called back again to arrange how they wish to be treated.

Now, Darent Valley Hospital has a whole new way of working for all urological cancers – bladder, kidney, prostate and testicle.

The centre was opened by the chief executive of NHS England, Simon Stevens.

He said: “This is going to stop people being passed from pillar to post, while they’re stressed and worrying about their test results. That’s only going to become more important as we see a rising number of people coming to Darent Valley, and to every other hospital.”

After a short wait people have just a 10 metre walk from the room where they are tested to where they get their results.

Masses of new equipment has been bought, making it one of the most advanced urological treatment centres in the country.

For the past three years the team has worked to raise the money themselves, from runs to sky dives. Some grateful patients also donated. John Lobb has a plaque on the centre’s wall after he left £238,000 in his will, after being treated there.

The centre is the brainchild of Professor Sri Sriprasad, the clinical director.

He said: “I am so proud to see this centre opened, but it has been a real team effort. We all work very closely to make sure our patients get the very best treatment and experience possible.”

Cancer survival rates are on the increase.

The lifetime likelihood of somebody getting cancer now is about one in two, because people are living longer, and are not dying of other conditions.

Some cancers have better survival rates than others.

People who have prostate cancer have about an eight in 10 chance of going on to live five years or more, for testicular it is nearer 10/10 but for kidney, it is only six.

The centre is working with consultants from a number of other hospitals, including Medway, Bromley and Guy’s.

Mr Stevens said: “It’s about networks across the NHS and supporting each other.

“No hospital is an island, there needs to be partnerships and that is what Darent Valley is doing well, and that is the spirit we are trying to enthuse across the NHS.”

The hospital’s chief executive Susan Acott added: “For me personally, to have clinicians with vision, who work to put them in place is both a strength and a virtue. Not all clinicians have the stamina to deliver.”

Several thousand people are seen at the Dartford hospital each year with urological cancers and stone disease.

Among the new equipment is a Lithotripter. It uses shockwaves to shatter kidney stones, and at a cost of £350,000 is the most sophisticated in the country.

New ultrasound equipment means more stones can be spotted, more accurately.
It can be used in about 30% of kidney stone cases, and means patients can avoid surgery.

Another machine, for prostate biopsies, has impressive software which means that rather an a rectal probe, which has a high infection rate, an MRI image is fused with an ultrasound, making diagnosis far more precise and less invasive.

It cost £110,000, and has £30,000 worth of software installed on it.

Darent Valley is the only hospital in the south east region with this facility.

There is also a blue light cystoscopy, which makes it far easier to spot cancer cells among healthy cells.