Cancer initiative in East Lancashire praised nationally
Date posted: 10th September 2020
The Pennine Lancashire Primary Care Cancer Team has been highly commended in this year’s HSJ Value Awards.
The Cancer initiative is delivered jointly by Blackburn with Darwen and East Lancashire Clinical Commissioning Group to 540,000 patients across the Pennine Lancashire area.
It is a long term initiative which has improved investment and education in primary care to transform services and improve patient care. It incorporates multiple projects over several years and is still ongoing.
The team is led by Dr Neil Smith, Blackburn GP and Clinical Lead, Carol Hedley, Commissioning Manager and Angela Dunne, Project Manager.
The judges commented:
“We felt that this was a high quality project which demonstrated great evidence of how a primary care group can work with their colleagues to improve the patient pathway for cancer, particularly in the area of screening and early two week wait referrals. The initiative has clearly improved allocation of the limited resource available to primary care colleagues, with patient centred outcomes and evidence of financial value."
Dr Neil Smith said:
“I am delighted that the work we are doing to improve cancer outcomes and patient care for thousands of patients has been recognised. More importantly, we know that we are helping to make a difference to people’s lives and their chances of surviving cancer by improved screening and early treatment where needed.
We know that the sooner you can catch cancer, the better your chances of beating it. Over the last few months, many cancer services were paused but we are getting back to normal and we would urge anyone who is concerned about cancer to talk to their GP. It is safe in doctor’s surgery and hospitals for you to attend for screening, tests or appointments. Please come forward and get the treatment you need to beat cancer.”