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Cancer Service Improvement Programme
Centre for Change and Innovation

Cancer in Scotland - Action for Change

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Cancer Service
Improvement Programme

Context

The Cancer Service Improvement Programme (CSIP), was launched by Mr Malcolm Chisholm, the Minister for Health and Community Care in October 2002, to underpin the redesign of cancer services across the three regional cancer networks in the north, west and south east of Scotland.

The programme goal is to improve experiences and outcomes for patients with suspected or diagnosed cancer, consistent with the goals set out in the Cancer Strategy.

Everything we do should be focused on patients and their carers, they are involved in our Improvement Programme from the beginning.

The facilitators work in close collaboration with key stakeholders to introduce improvements that are responsive to patients needs.

Service Redesign

Redesign of cancer services has already brought about benefits in many areas to people affected by cancer - more rapid diagnosis, improved services for patients and better use of highly skilled and expert staff and equipment.

Service Redesign is an important feature of the implementation of Cancer in Scotland: Action for Change. It will deliver a national, co-ordinated improvement and change programme to support service redesign within NHSScotland's cancer services.

The programme aim is to accelerate the pace of change and bring improvements to existing systems and processes across the three regional cancer networks.

Regional Facilitators

A team of Regional Facilitators is in place across Scotland. Funded by the Centre for Change and Innovation (CCI), they work closely with the clinical leads within the Regional Cancer Managed Clinical Networks. They provide practical support and expertise to improve patient care.

This involves redesign of lung, colorectal and gynaecological cancer services. These are three of the most commonly occurring tumours for which Clinical Standards Board Scotland (CSBS), now NHS Quality Improvement Scotland (NHSQIS) published reports confirmed the need for improvements in the delivery of cancer services. Support is being provided as follows:

North
Lung and Colorectal (NOSCAN)

West
Lung, Gynaecological and Colorectal (WOSCAN)

South East
Lung and Gynaecological (SCAN)

Work is already underway to establish what the current service and patient journey looks like using process mapping.

Mapping the Journey

Process mapping is a simple exercise. It is one of the most powerful ways for multi-disciplinary teams to understand the real problems from the patients' perspective and to identify opportunities for improvement. It identifies how long each patient waits, how many visits they make, how many steps are unnecessary and the complexity of the system.

Matching Capacity and Demand

In order to make the most of patient flow through a healthcare system, it is necessary to address the entire patient process. There is a need to analyse and understand the capacity, demand, backlog and activity issues wherever there are queues and waiting lists. Measuring capacity and demand in a system is an approach that can help teams understand the bottlenecks, which often cause extended waits for patients.

Patient and Carer Involvement

At the heart of the CSIP is the patient/carer and their experience through the whole cancer journey. Using interview techniques that allow us to simply listen to the patients and carers stories about their journey through their pathway of care is extremely powerful. This technique provides us with clarity of their needs and helps teams make decisions on actions to be taken, which will add benefits to patients and carers. Teams are using a tried and tested model for improvement (PDSA) to measure the impact of the changes.

Contacts

Pauline Ferguson - National Programme Manager
Cancer Service Improvement Programme
Centre for Change and Innovation
St Andrew's House Regent Road
Edinburgh EH1 3DG

t: 0131 244 6912 m: 07786 661937
e:pauline.ferguson@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

SCAN
Louise Hamill - Gynaecological Cancer

m: 07717 422 366
e:louise.hamill@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

Margaret Kelly - Lung Cancer

m: 07717 422 368
e:margaret.kelly2@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

NOSCAN
Lynn Smith - Lung Cancer

m: 07717 422 362
e:lynn.smith2@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

Dawn Sturrock - Colorectal Cancer

m: 07717 422 367
e:dawn.sturrock@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

WOSCAN
Fiona Noble - Gynaecological Cancer

m: 07717 422 364
e:fiona.noble@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

Janice Kemp - Lung Cancer

m: 07717 422 363
e:janice.kemp@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

Margaret Sherwood - Colorectal Cancer

m: 07717 422 365
e:margaretann.sherwood@scotland.gsi.gov.uk