This interactive service improvement guide (SIG) for gynaecological oncology has been produced by the Cancer Services Collaborative Improvement Partnership (CSC IP) – part of the work of the NHS Modernisation Agency. The CSC IP aims to improve patients’ access to and experience of cancer treatment by using the methods employed in process redesign. The tools for this exercise consist of mapping the patient’s pathway, making and testing the effects of small changes (PDSA cycles) and understanding capacity and demand.

As National Clinical Leads for Gynaecology Oncology we were sceptics at the outset of the project but were surprised at the number of delays occurring in the management of our own patients when we reviewed the patients’ pathways. We were even more surprised at the effectiveness of the tools in bringing a dramatic improvement in the patient’s journey.

This interactive SIG is designed to help all clinicians to:

• improve their patient flow by identifying and eliminating "bottlenecks"
• shorten the patient’s journey by removing unnecessary steps
• understand capacity and demand which has been invaluable in obtaining essential funding for service improvement.
• sort out special problems by giving examples of how similar problems have been solved in other hospitals.

With the help of this guide it should be possible to look at new ways of achieving most if not all of the targets set in the NHS Cancer plan. Failure to implement when better pathways of patient management are available may become an issue of clinical governance.
How can I get started?

Contact details

Marie Palmer - National Manager for Chemotherapy & Gynaecology
email - marie.palmer@npat.nhs.uk

Andy Nordin - National Clinical Lead for Gynaecology
email - andy@nordin.freeserve.co.uk

Charie Chan - National Clinical Lead for Gynaecology
email - catherine.wall@bham-womens.thenhs.com