Member Article

Newcastle software outfit develop game changing clinical pathway platform

A Newcastle-based software firm is aiming to revolutionise the clinical pathway market with its new CancerPlan product.

Digital Spark Ltd have launched a type of Electronic Patient Record that intelligently collects data from all participants in the care of a cancer patient.

Developed in collaboration with clinicians at Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, CancerPlan aims to connect everyone who is involved in the patient’s care.

The Ouseburn-headquartered firm revealed the product to clinicians this week at the Association of Breast Surgery Conference in Liverpool.

Speaking to Bdaily at the North East’s recent Dynamo conference, Digital Spark social and digital marketing manager, Tom Chaplin, said: “The idea was born from an initial desire to digitise the care of patients in the North East.

“It seems bizarre, but the NHS doesn’t currently have an integrated system for collecting all the data associated with a cancer patient’s care. Often clinicians have a good idea for a database, but haven’t the technical know-how to develop a scalable, integrated solution like this.

“We spotted a gap in the market there, and that’s how we’ve ended up with CancerPlan.

“It’s got massive potential for us, and could dwarf anything else we’ve been involved with.”

Henry Cain, a project partner and recently appointed oncoplastic breast surgeon at Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “CancerPlan will revolutionise the recording of a patients’ cancer journey from GP referral through treatment and on-going follow-up.

“The project will vastly improve the quality of data collection and the use of this data will allow the rapid evaluation of clinical services and developments in cancer treatments.”

CancerPlan Breast will be piloted in breast units at both trusts prior to a regional and then national roll out.

The software will also deliver regional data sharing as well as patient and clinical revalidation portals.

Digital Spark’s strategy director Michael J Bell said: “This groundbreaking project is likely to yield the country’s first fully integrated digital patient record for the cancer pathway which is both a great success story for the North East and a major step towards achieving the government’s goals of a paperless NHS.”

The ambitious project will see the pilot scheme running at the North East trusts in the coming months, with a potential national roll out by the end of the year.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .