The study found that around one in four patients who arrive at A&E with visible blood in their urine, known medically as haematuria, are diagnosed with cancer.<\/p>\n
The most common type is bladder cancer.<\/p>\n
Researchers said early scans not only improve survival chances but also ensure cancers are detected far more quickly.<\/p>\n
Around 25,000 people visit UK A&E departments each year with blood in their urine, however care varies widely depending on the hospital or even the doctor treating them.<\/p>\n
Globally, only around half of patients receive a scan, while just a third undergo surgery.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"Around](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/107228441-15654629-image-a-3_1773830936369.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Around 25,000 people visit UK A&E departments each year with blood in their urine<\/p>\n
Others are either sent home or admitted for observation, the study found.<\/p>\n
The findings come from the WASHOUT study, presented at the European Association of Urology Congress 2026 in London.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The study, which analysed data from more than 8,500 patients across 380 hospitals worldwide, showed that rapid investigation is critical to improving outcomes.<\/p>\n
Experts say patients should receive a CT scan or cystoscopy, a procedure used to look inside the bladder, within 48 hours of arriving at A&E to determine the next steps.<\/p>\n
Patients who did not receive appropriate tests or treatment were 2.5 per cent more likely to die within three months compared to those who did.<\/p>\n
They were also more likely to spend longer in hospital and be readmitted with the same issue.<\/p>\n
Among patients with cancer, those who received tests within 48 hours were diagnosed within one day on average. By contrast, those discharged without investigation waited around three weeks for a diagnosis.<\/p>\n
Researchers are now working to incorporate the findings into clinical guidelines to standardise care.<\/p>\n
Lead researcher Nikita Bhatt, a consultant urologist at St Vincent’s University Hospital in Dublin, said: ‘This is the largest study exploring how we should treat people who present at A&E with blood in their urine.<\/p>\n
‘It’s a common problem affecting thousands of people around the world, and these patients are usually very unwell.<\/p>\n
‘But too often they fall through the gaps because it isn’t obviously tied to a specific disease.<\/p>\n
‘Our findings show how important it is that doctors take the necessary steps to identify the cause of the problem.<\/p>\n
‘For patients, the message is clear: if you have visible blood in your urine, don’t ignore it.<\/p>\n
‘See your doctor as soon as you can. If it doesn’t clear up, keep pushing until you find an answer.’<\/p>\n
Jacqueline Emeks, a patient advocate who developed sepsis after attending A&E with the symptom, said: ‘These findings highlight that blood in the urine should trigger immediate action.<\/p>\n
‘It’s not something to watch and wait. Patients know their bodies and deserve to be taken seriously. Blood in urine is a red flag until proven otherwise.’<\/p>\n
Professor Joost Boormans, a urologist at Erasmus University Medical Centre in Rotterdam, added: ‘This is an important study highlighting the scale of the problem.<\/p>\n
‘Timely tests can accelerate diagnosis and reduce the risk of readmission and long hospital stays, both of which are currently high.<\/p>\n
‘We should do more to ensure patients receive an immediate diagnosis to improve outcomes and reduce pressure on healthcare systems.’<\/p>\n
What is haematuria?\u00a0 <\/p>\n
Haematuria is blood in the urine. Sometimes the blood can be seen but often it is only present in very small amounts and is invisible to the naked eye.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A simple test of the urine can detect these very small amounts of blood. This is one of the checks done at many routine medical examinations.<\/p>\n
What causes haematuria?\u00a0<\/p>\n
The main causes of blood in the urine are:\u00a0<\/p>\n
Infection\u00a0Kidney stones\u00a0Tumours in the bladder or kidney\u00a0Harmless leakage from the bladder area\u00a0Inflammation in the kidney<\/p>\n
These conditions are investigated using a sample of urine sent to the laboratory to look for infection, an ultrasound scan of the kidneys and by looking inside the bladder with a flexible tube.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Source: NHS<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One in ten patients who attend A&E after noticing blood in their urine die within three months, concerning…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":352707,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[539,103,397,396,61,60,99],"class_list":["post-352706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-dailymail","tag-health","tag-health-care","tag-healthcare","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-london"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352706","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=352706"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352706\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/352707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=352706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=352706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=352706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}