As referenced in the national NHS priorities and operational planning guidance for 2023/24, the significance of early cancer diagnosis is an NHS priority. One of the biggest actions the NHS can take to improve cancer survival is to diagnose cancer earlier. Patients diagnosed early, at stages 1 and 2, have the best chance of curative treatment and long-term survival. The NHS Long Term Plan set the ambition that, by 2028, the proportion of cancers diagnosed at stages 1 and 2 will rise to three-quarters of cancer patients. Achieving this will mean that, from 2028, 55,000 more people each year will survive their cancer for at least five years after diagnosis.

NHS Midlands and Lancashire (NHS ML) are pleased to be supporting this ambition, working in collaboration with Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Integrated Care Board (ICB) to deliver a deep dive cancer pathway analysis, funded by the West Midlands Cancer Alliance. The areas of focus of this in-depth review are late-stage cancer diagnosis and a review of primary care cancer referrals. The programme of work aims to identify and investigate variations in the cancer pathway, and the impact these have on patient outcomes.

The insight gained from understanding variation in cancer pathways, will inform recommendations to improve the patient experience by optimising referral to diagnosis timescales, and improving early diagnosis, where possible and appropriate.

The programme of work is being led by the NHS ML Business Intelligence team, in collaboration with the NHS ML Nursing and Urgent Care team, together with the involvement of relevant teams within the Digital, Data and Technology Directorate. Our joint approach is key to the delivery of the project, which encompasses a clinical audit as part of the cancer pathway analysis. The analysis and engagement to date have proved instrumental in informing discussions with the ICB and wider stakeholders, in determining which cancer sites form the focus of the clinical audits.

Working in partnership with the ICB, primary care and the cancer services teams in the designated acute hospital providers within the Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent geography, means we can incorporate a wide source of data and information, and obtain the required input from clinical specialists as part of a case study approach. This methodology enables a rich study to develop, with early findings providing the evidence needed to inform recommendations for improvement and transformation of cancer pathways across the integrated care system.

Further information

If you would like to find out more about this programme of work, and how we may potentially support your organisation in this area, please contact:

Lead Consultant Analyst Ruth Green at ruth.green24@nhs.net

Head of BI Consultancy Mark Oliver at mark.oliver1@nhs.net

Chief Analytics Officer Neil Morgan at neil.morgan1@nhs.net