Publish date: 5 December 2022
Two initiatives involving work by Cheshire & Merseyside Cancer Alliance have been shortlisted for prestigious awards recognising outstanding dedication to improving healthcare and effective collaboration with the NHS.
The HSJ Partnership Awards 2023 honour the most effective partnerships, innovative projects and collaborations in the UK health system.
A Gynaecological Cancer Services Review in Cheshire & Merseyside has been shortlisted in the Most Effective Contribution to Clinical Redesign category and the ambitious programme to create Community Diagnostic Centres across Cheshire and Merseyside – delivered in a partnership between the NHS in Cheshire and Merseyside and Attain Health Management, and led by the Alliance’s Senior Responsible Officer, Dr Liz Bishop – has been shortlisted in the Best Consultancy Partnership with the NHS category.
The Gynaecological Cancer Services Review was undertaken by Cheshire & Merseyside Cancer Alliance (CMCA) and the NHS Transformation Unit to improve these services in the sub-region. The judges have highlighted the project team’s diligence and ambition, and the positive impact that the project has had on both practitioners and patients within the healthcare industry.
CMCA commissioned the NHS Transformation Unit (TU) to undertake an end-to-end pathway review across all gynaecological cancer services. The aim was to develop a detailed understanding of current service provision, working with partners to develop a vision to achieve excellent services for the future; underpinning this with recommendations and a plan to realise this ambition.
Over 100 stakeholders participated across more than 15 organisations via visits to cancer units, diagnostic teams and specialist centres, one to one meetings, surveys and workshops. The review was driven by CMCA, the TU and the co-clinical leadership of Dawn Valentine-Gray and Mr John Kirwan (both of Liverpool Women’s NHS Foundation Trust), with support for a working group with membership across Cheshire and Merseyside.
This culminated in a full day event where findings and recommendations were presented, with a shared vison for gynaecological cancer services being developed and agreed. This review has formed the basis for a large-scale transformation programme across all gynaecological cancer services to deliver the agreed partnership model of care. The programme is delivering a wide range of initiatives across workforce, screening, diagnostics, treatment and follow-up care. Learning from the work has been shared across UK-wide networks and programmes.
Anna Murray, CMCA Senior Programme Manager, said: “The review was initiated based on feedback from patients and a review of cancer performance data. This highlighted the clear need for gynaecological cancer services to become a priority for review and improvement.
“What started as an idea has translated into a large-scale programme of change across all gynaecology services in Cheshire and Merseyside. The ongoing success of this programme is testament to the hard work of members of the Alliance team, our organisational partners, and our patient and clinical leaders across Cheshire and Merseyside.
“Delivery of the review and the establishment of the ambitious change programme would not have been possible without the fantastic support of the NHS Transformation Unit and an appetite for improvement and collaboration across organisations with Cheshire & Merseyside.”
CMCA also supported the NHS in Cheshire and Merseyside and Attain Health Management in the programme to establish a network of Community Diagnostic Centres (CDCs) in the sub-region, under the leadership of Dr Bishop, who is also Chief Executive of The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre.
CDCs in Cheshire and Merseyside are expect to have delivered almost 140,000 tests by the end of 2022/23 and there are centres in St Helens, Wirral, Liverpool, Ellesmere Port and Northwich. These will soon be joined by two new hubs at Halton General Hospital and Southport & Formby District General Hospital.
CDCs are designed to speed up diagnosis of conditions from cancer to heart or lung disease and are based at non-acute settings with easy access for the public. The CDC sites are selected following analysis to determine where they would be most beneficial in reducing waiting lists and tackling health inequalities, whilst making the best use of existing NHS estates. They have delivered over 80,000 tests in Cheshire and Merseyside so far this year.
As well as providing leadership and collaboration, CMCA provided Project Management Office oversight on the programme.
Dr Bishop said: “It is tremendous news that this initiative has been shortlisted for such a prestigious award. A number of organisations came together quickly during the pandemic to put in place an ambitious initiative to deliver increased diagnostic capacity and this has been achieved – with more to come.
“I would like to thank all the organisations which worked so well right across the system to ensure our patients could access diagnostic tests as quickly as possible and also closer to their home.”
Jon Hayes, CMCA Managing Director, said: “It is tremendous that the Alliance has achieved national recognition for the hard work and dedication put into these two successful projects, which needed a high degree of collaboration to make them achievable. I’d like to congratulate everyone involved.”
HSJ editor Alastair McLellan said: “This year’s finalists are of an outstanding calibre and all of them are exceptionally dedicated to enhancing healthcare across the UK.”
The winners will be selected following a rigorous judging stage ahead of the HSJ Partnership Awards 2023 awards ceremony in London on March 23, 2023. The awards evening is expected to be attended by national healthcare leaders and professionals from both the NHS and private sector as well as figures from non-clinical backgrounds to celebrate innovation and collaboration in healthcare.
The full list of nominees for the Awards can be found at https://partnership.hsj.co.uk/finalists-2023/