The Scottish Government has confirmed funding for 12 new projects which are set to improve cancer care across NHS Scotland.
The Single Point of Contact (SPoC) pilots will command around £1.5m of funding in 2024/25 and involve patients benefitting from personalised and ongoing support, in turn putting them at the heart of decision making and action.
The pilots
One of the major beneficiaries of the funding includes NHS Lothian, which will receive more than £343k to support the telephone-based SPoC service in Edinburgh to serve boards within the South East Scotland Cancer Network.
NHS Lothian uses a centralised digital hub to deliver the telephony and support patients with a range of different cancers. It is estimated that two in every five (40%) calls are diverted away from clinical nurse specialists.
Patient engagement work carried out by the NHS along with Healthcare Improvement Scotland has suggested a high level of satisfaction with the service.
Funding is also set to majorly benefit:
- NHS Highland
- NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde
- NHS Fife
Transforming cancer care
Scotland’s first minister, John Swinney, confirmed the funding during a visit to Edinburgh Cancer Centre. “The SPoC service meets requirements identified by Boards to deliver improvements in communication and support for patients with navigating cancer care,” said Swinney.
He added: “By taking in the region of 2,000 calls per month and providing person-centred support to those patients throughout their care journey, the Edinburgh SPoC project provides consistent access for patients to have conversations about their care, freeing up capacity for specialist staff to focus on the most complex cases.”
Katie Gibson, neuroendocrine tumour clinical nurse specialist at Edinburgh Cancer Centre, said: “I've seen first-hand how the SPoC service has transformed our ability to care for cancer patients.
“The centralised system streamlines communication and allows us to spend more quality time with those who need it most. As a result, patients are aware of who to contact for the support and advice they require from diagnosis , treatment and beyond.”
Scale and expand
Other organisations set to receive funding for the SPoC project include NHS Borders, NHS Dumfries and Galloway, NHS Forth Valley, NHS Ayrshire and Arran, NHS Grampian, NHS Tayside, and NHS Western Isles.
Healthcare Improvement Scotland is currently in the process of conducting a scalability assessment for all the projects, in a bid to identify best practice and understand how to efficiently scale and expand the pilots.
Image credit: iStock
