The focus of our work
The focus of much of our work during the COVID-19 pandemic has been to ensure that there is equitable access to cancer treatment for all residents of Lancashire and South Cumbria.
Our teams have worked tirelessly to make sure that people with a diagnosis of cancer are treated in order of clinical prioirity (in other words the most serious cases are treated first).
This sometimes means that we will ask patients to travel to different hospitals or clinics than they would have done previously. We have also asked clinical teams to move around the system to make sure that we take a very fair and consistent approach to waiting times.
Looking ahead
Going forward, our aim is to ensure that there is no unwarranted variation in both access times and outcomes for people receiving treatment for cancer. We look at multiple data sources and evidence to measure the quality of treatment.
Some examples of this are:
Cancer Quality Surveillance Programme
Our workplan
Specific priorities for our "treatment" workplan in 2022/23 will be:
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supporting the implementation of recommendations for the GIRFT review of lung cancer services
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working with the Radiotherapy Operational Delivery Network to expand the use of SABR ( you can view more information about SABR for patients)
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ensuring that the new service specification for children, teenage and young adults with cancer is implemented across Lancashire and South Cumbria (working with the childrens' networks)