Patients with neck lumps: can they be managed in a 'one-stop' clinic setting?

The present government has stated its intentions to expand the application of "one-stop" assessments for out-patients. To decide if this is an appropr iate strategy for managing patients with neck lumps, we prospectively asses sed 110 patients referred to the Neck Lump Clinic of the Otolaryngology Dep artment of a teaching hospital. Patients were assessed clinically and with immediately reported fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC). The accuracy o f immediately reported FNAC was later compared with a final report and hist ology, when available. A "one-stop" visit was defined as patients who were discharged, or placed on a waiting list, after a single consultation. Eight -three (76%) patients did not have to return to the outpatient department, of which 59 (54%) were discharged. No changes occurred from immediate to fi nal FNAC reports. If certain criteria are met, patients with neck lumps can be successfully managed in a "one-stop" setting.