• Airedale NHS Foundation Trust and Careology become one of four bids to win funding

• £228k granted through Competitive Innovation Award Scheme to support cancer service recovery

• Scheme run by the West Yorkshire & Harrogate Cancer Alliance to achieve its Five Year Plan

Airedale NHS Foundation Trust has won funding from the West Yorkshire & Harrogate Alliance to bolster its cancer care service with digital cancer care platform, Careology. 

From January, patients at the award-winning Airedale NHS Foundation Trust will be introduced to the Careology app to support them through their cancer treatment. The Trust will be the first in the North to offer this pioneering new digital innovation, connecting patients to their healthcare team and empowering them throughout their own treatment.

On a daily basis, patients with cancer manage complex situations from understanding their diagnosis, to managing symptoms and side effects, medication schedules and appointments and travel. Grasping the significance of monitoring symptoms and side effects can be overwhelming so access to advice and support from the healthcare team is vital.

In addition to the care and support the cancer teams at Airedale already provides, the new app will enable patients to self-manage and better understand aspects of their treatment including managing medication, side effects and symptom tracking, and provide access to the right information at the right time about their treatment. 

The patient-reported information will be available on the Careology Professional dashboard for Airedale cancer teams to have consistent access to how their patients are managing their condition. By combining the best of both human and digital cancer care, the app aims to empower patients with personalised information and support and help them get access to early intervention, whether that be information or clinical treatment from the Acute Oncology team. 

Last year Airedale NHS Foundation Trust provided over 10,400 individual cancer intravenous treatments. The immediate benefits of the partnership will be improved patient experience and education. It is anticipated that with increased knowledge patients will feel empowered and reassured and reduce the need for hospital admissions.  Clinical teams will be able to work more efficiently, knowing their patients are better informed to manage the side effects of their treatment.

Caroline Salt, Lead Cancer Nurse at Airedale NHS Foundation Trust, says:

It's exciting to see Airedale leading the way on the Government’s agenda for digital innovation within the NHS. Cancer care in particular has scope for innovative development, and we are taking a lead in delivering the NHS’ three Big Shifts to digital, care closer to home, and prevention through this new partnership which will benefit both our patients and clinical teams.

‘This app is an exciting addition to the way our fantastic cancer teams work, to ensure our patients receive the best possible care at a difficult time.  It means patients will have access to up to date information in the comfort of their own home, at a time that they need it most.

Paul Landau, Founder and CEO of Careology says:

The immediate impact of digital cancer care can be seen in recent data produced by Lloyd’s Pharmacy Clinical Homecare in partnership with Careology. During a three-month period, the partnership demonstrated a 70% reduction in unnecessary hospital admissions from people being treated for cancer.

Airedale NHS Foundation Trust’s bid for £228,000 was one of four out of 57 to win funding. These projects aim to support innovation that is directly focused on cancer service recovery and development. 

Jason Pawluk, Managing Director of the West Yorkshire and Harrogate Cancer Alliance says:

As in previous years, our innovation competition attracted high quality entries from across the local system, and this was no exception. We invested in this impressive proposal because of the opportunities to improve care for people receiving mainly non-surgical oncology treatments and the possibility of sharing learning from Airedale more widely across the patch, subject to evaluation. 

Cancer Alliances promote digital innovation opportunities as part of the measures proposed in the new NHS ten-year plan, including promoting personalisation, choice, and reduced barriers to access for people affected by cancer.

About Careology

Careology is building the world’s leading digital cancer care platform. It connects patients with their healthcare teams, and allows them to share real-time insights which improve outcomes. It also allows patients to feel more in control of their diagnosis & treatment.

By increasing the potential for patients to self-serve and making ‘always on’ remote monitoring possible, Careology is helping to move the needle from reactive to proactive care which can free up workforce capacity and relieve pressure on healthcare systems whilst reducing costs. Its patient-reported insights allow healthcare teams to understand how patients are adhering and reacting to treatment, as well as helping to triage when intervention is required.

Launched in 2019 by serial healthtech entrepreneur, Paul Landau, after his own family’s experience with cancer, Careology is building a more efficient and resilient cancer care system with leading providers and insurers, including Guy’s & St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, The Royal Marsden, Nuffield Health, Aviva and Lloyds Pharmacy Clinical Homecare. Recommended by Macmillan, its technology has been recognised by the Journal of Medical Informatics which ranked Careology as the highest scoring patient-facing cancer app available.

About Airedale NHS Foundation Trust

Airedale NHS Foundation Trust is an award-winning NHS hospital and community services trust providing high quality, personalised, acute, elective, specialist and community care for a population of over 200,000 people from a widespread area covering 700 square miles within Yorkshire and Lancashire. Our catchment population stretches as far as the Yorkshire Dales and the National Park in North Yorkshire, reaching areas of North Bradford and Guiseley in West Yorkshire and extending into Colne and Pendle in the East of Lancashire. We provide services from our main hospital site, Airedale Hospital, and at other locations across the community – such as Castleberg Hospital near Settle, Coronation Hospital in Ilkley and Skipton Hospital.

About West Yorkshire & Harrogate Cancer Alliance

West Yorkshire and Harrogate Cancer Alliance works together and in partnership, to transform the diagnosis, treatment and care for cancer patients in our local area. These partnerships enable care to be more effectively planned and delivered across local cancer pathways – the journey followed by each person who is suspected of having cancer, who then receives a confirmed diagnosis and goes on to receive treatment. The Cancer Alliance collaborates with a broad network of stakeholders including hospital Trusts; Healthwatch teams; national, regional and local charities like Macmillan Cancer Support, Cancer Research UK and the Yorkshire Cancer Community, a range of third sector organisations and several operational delivery networks.