Nottingham extends cancer solution

Nottingham University Hospital NHS Trust has announced it will deploy a customised reporting solution across 15 of its specialist tumour departments.

The trust is extending its CNodes reporting solution to give it greater visibility of the patient pathway from initial referral to eventual outcome.

The trust will continue to use reporting software from business intelligence specialist Ardentia as a platform for running CNodes alongside its existing in-house cancer waiting time system.

The bespoke system consolidates individual cancer site databases into a centralised, secure system for improved reporting statistics. It allows clinicians to access data from any location and to input information using drop-down menus rather than manually.

It also provides further details on treatment as well as the key stages on the pathways to ensure that the trust meets referral to treatment government targets for cancer care.

Jill Weller, business change manager at Nottingham University Hospital’s Cancer Centre, said: “With Ardentia’s support, we have been able to create a bespoke solution that meets our specific trust requirements.

“It provides each cancer team with the flexibility to input data their own way and in their own time, to improve data quality and therefore quality of care, and provide more timely reporting for annual audits.

The trust has already gone-live with the first tumour departments and says feedback from staff has been extremely positive.

Gary Luke, managing director of Ardentia, said: “Better quality data – and more of it – is key to improving care delivery and outcomes for patients.

"We have worked closely with Nottingham to develop a customised version of our reporting solution, which meets their specific trust needs and has enhanced transparency and access to patient data, helping to transform healthcare delivery.”

The trust intends to deploy a separate multi-disciplinary team booking system across the trust and other centres, which will allow clinicians to log-in remotely and enter a patient for discussion at MDT meetings. The new system will integrate with the CNodes solution to share patient information in real-time.

Link: Ardentia