Transformation Directorate

Cancer pathway

A step by step guide to the cancer pathway

  1. Referral management and advice and guidance

    Creating ways for primary care clinicians to easily receive advice on referrals virtually. Consultations can be triaged and queries and prescriptions can be answered remotely.

  2. Primary care

    Digital tools to enable early diagnosis in primary care, including education platform and advice to support clinical teams, clinical decision support tool, communication tools and image sharing where helpful

  3. Diagnostics

    Remote reporting on diagnostics (including AI-enhanced diagnostics), shared care records and diagnostic networks that support sharing of patient information from multiple providers to one central point safely and effectively.

  4. Outpatients

    Streamlined digital pathways, including booking appointments and sending reminders to patients (most are virtual), messaging of clinical teams managed through portals and remote platforms, electronic prescribing.

  5. Treatment, surgery and inpatient

    Tests and pre-operative assessments all being carried out virtually and supplemented by patient-reported outcome measures. Information about the treatment is shared digitally.

  6. Community services and rehabilitation

    Ongoing monitoring, including platforms that support long term conditions-monitoring and detection of early relapse. Use of devices at home to monitor, for example, vital signs, ongoing treatment side-effects, medication compliance and use of digital rehabilitation.

  7. Discharge and self care

    Supported self monitoring, including health and wellbeing overseen by the patient with support from digital tools and easy access to advice when necessary. Patients are safety-netted using digital tools.

  8. End of life

    Tools to support advance and urgent care planning, symptom management and effective psychological support for patients, carers and families.