Three awards have been granted to local primary and secondary care organisations for projects to improve patient experience in cancer care. The awards have been made from the 2024/25 Innovation Fund: Improving Patient Experience, delivered by the North Central London Cancer Alliance, in partnership with UCLPartners.
The first grant will allow virtual reality technology to be used in staff training modules to improve the way healthcare staff communicate with patients. The second grant will evaluate the use of an educational virtual surgery school for gynaecology patients preparing for major surgery. In addition, using artificial intelligence, it will enable the development of an app that can give access to personalised information for individual gynaecology patients and their carers. These two projects will be led by University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH) with roll out across appropriate sites in North Central London expected during 2025.
The third grant was awarded to Barnet Primary Care Network 5, which comprises of six GP practices: Greenfields, Ravenscroft, St Georges, Dr Azim and Partners, Phoenix, and Pennine. The project will develop and deliver a series of virtual cancer wellbeing clinics. These will support patients in improving their overall well-being and reduce feelings of social isolation before, during, and after cancer diagnosis and treatment.
Ali Malik, Managing Director, North Central London Cancer Alliance, said: “Harnessing the power of innovative solutions to improve the experience of our patients across the whole of North Central London is of paramount importance to us. We are delighted to announce the awardees for 24/25 and are confident these projects will support us in making a genuine difference in 2025.”
The North Central London Cancer Alliance is collaborating with hospital trusts and primary care to improve local performance in the National Cancer Patient Experience Survey by 2028. Despite high quality treatment and positive clinical outcomes, patient experience in the area is often below the national average. The Innovation Fund is supporting this work and launched an open call funding opportunity in August 2024 with the key themes:
- Communication
- Access and navigation
- Coordination of care
Grant applications were open to primary, secondary, and tertiary care organisations. Collaboration with voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations in North Central London was strongly encouraged. Applications could have been specific to one, or many, cancer types and cover a range of innovations, including software-based solutions, behavioural change interventions, workforce, education or new models of care.
“We are proud to work with NCL Cancer Alliance and are excited by the innovations chosen that will shift the dial for improved patient experience and greater personalised care for patients across NCL,” said Jessica Thomas, Director of Solutions, UCLPartners.
For more information about the Innovation Fund and the successful awards please contact lily.mackay1@nhs.net.