Patients undergoing tests for prostate cancer are now benefiting from an innovative new procedure, which we are providing at Scunthorpe hospital.
Thanks to our charity – The Health Tree Foundation – we were able to purchase a revolutionary piece of diagnostic equipment, which is helping our Urology team provide their patients with more accurate and swifter diagnostic tests.
The machine uses a special ultrasound probe, which displays an image of the prostate on a screen. This allows the biopsy taken to be even more accurate, resulting in a more precise diagnosis for the patient.
The procedure, which is usually carried out under a local anaesthetic, is known as a transperineal biopsy. Thanks to its accuracy, it reduces the risk of infection and the need for patients to have antibiotics afterwards.
Olivia Laking, Senior General Manager for Urology, said: “The team submitted a wish to our charity, as we previously only had one of these machines at Grimsby. This meant patients were having to travel to Grimsby, and we wanted to create more equity for our patients and reduce their need to travel. This also means we have more diagnostic capacity to offer to our patients.
“The procedure is considered gold standard for diagnosing prostate cancer. As well as allowing us to collect cells more accurately, the procedure also enables us to map the location and extent of any cancer which may be present. It also improves our ability to detect small cancers.”
Carly Stothard, Senior Service Manager for the Urology department, who has led on this project, said “Patients are able to be diagnosed quicker and in turn, this means they are able to go onto the waiting for surgery or for an oncology appointment much sooner. Our patients were waiting up to 21 days for biopsies previously, and we have now managed to reduce this to only seven days, which is such a great improvement for our patients”.
GPs refer patients with symptoms to the Urology service, following various tests. They are then sent for an MRI. If the result of that is positive, they’ll be sent for a biopsy.
Carly added: “We’re hoping in the future nurses and Allied Health Professionals (AHPs) will be able to perform the biopsy too.” Our urology team started to use the new procedure at Scunthorpe in February 2026, which will benefit in the region of 500 patients per year.