RE: Economics of the unthinking.5 Oct 2023 16:32
In the UK 100000 men per year have a prostate biopsy. The cost to the NHS including initial consultations, cost of operating theatre, support staff (nurses, anesthetist, anesthetics, pain relief, pathology, accommodation, general overheads and follow up) must be many thousands per case. Let's assume a ludicrously modest cost differential to the PSE of £5k per biopsy. If 50,0000 of those biopsies were deemed unnecessary by virtue of a PSE test and each unnecessary procedure saves the NHS 5k, then the annual saving would be 250 million per annum. That's just based on people having the biopsy. It doesn't account for the thousands of MRI procedures undertaken by the current diagnostic process.