Agenda item

To receive a presentation from Dr. Robin Hudson, Northumberland CCG and representatives from the Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.

Members received a presentation from Dr. Robin Hudson, Medical Director at Northumberland CCG and Graham Matthewson Operations Service Manager at the Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.

·            It was emphasised that the levels of collaboration had been very high in Northumberland. The Cancer Locality Strategy Group was joined with North Tyneside to align priorities and thinking and there was also a wider ICP Cancer Group which met with the three hospital Trusts, Newcastle, Northumbria and Gateshead and the four CCGs.  These Forums looked at performance relating to cancer in the whole region.

·            Overall there was a lot of volatility in performance.  Currently, activity levels were back to pre-pandemic levels, however, over the two years of the pandemic there had been a reduction in the number of expected referrals.

·            Performance by speciality – key areas of focus were dermatology and breast cancer pathways.  The figures regarding children appeared to be poor and had been the subject of a deep dive and it was found that the majority of referrals were found not to be cancer.

·            A key area of pressure regarding breast cancer was the volume of cases and there was an issue with diagnostic capacity.  In dermatology, a tele-derm app had been introduced which enabled remote referral including a photograph of skill tissue to a consultant.  Patients in this pathway were now being seen well within the two week standard following referral. 

·            Primary Care was encouraged to keep services running during the pandemic particularly for cervical screening and funding was provided to practices for this purpose.  It was important to build patients’ confidence generally to encourage them to visit their GP.  Also ensuing that patients stuck to the pathway and did not fall through the net. 

·            A lot of effort had been put into the Cancer Recovery Plan and particularly focused on people who had waited a long time. 

·            There were interesting trends as to how patients were coming through the system.  6,000 colorectal patients seen last year and the diagnosis rate remained roughly the same over the last four years.  In haematology pathway, referrals remained similar but diagnosis rate had gone up to 75%.

·            The biggest focus nationally was the way cancer pathways were looked at and would move towards ’28 days past diagnosis’.  The aim was to diagnose patients more quickly and to start their treatment plan.

·            Work was concentrating on breast and skin cancer.  The new system using photographs for dermatology was working well. 

·            Colorectal services was a challenging pathway at the moment and work had been done to ensure that the pathway was a smooth as possible.  Diagnosis was now quicker and there was increasing use of CTC (computed tomographic colonagraphy).  A new CTC scanner was due to be installed at North Tyneside which would double capacity across all services.

·            Vague Symptoms Pathway was being trialled for patients with unexplained symptoms such as weight loss and abdominal pain.

·            NHS Galleri Research Trial was aimed at 50-77 year olds with no cancer symptoms and would detect 22 cancers early.

·            Lung cancer pilot jointly with North Tyneside to encourage early diagnosis.  In the last 12 months, 300 patients had been scanned with 10 lung cancers detected, nine of which had curative treatment.

·            Personalised care, including rehabilitation, health and wellbeing information and advice and signposting, empowering and improving patient outcomes.  A digital monitoring system had been introduced to monitor patients throughout the process.

·            Challenges to the service included the impact of Covid on staffing which created slight increases in diagnostic times; social distancing reducing capacity and increases in treatment length for Oncology services.

·            Highlights were increasing staffing in Oncology, new Cancer Navigator posts to support new pathways and the installation of a second CT scanner due to be operational by March 2022.

·            Cancer awareness should be raised with emphasis on the importance of early diagnosis, symptom awareness, cancer screening campaigns and support of national and regional campaigns.

RESOLVED that the presentation be received.