Northumbria Healthcare launches app to support cancer patients

Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust has launched an app to provide easy access to support and guidance for patients with cancer and their families.

The app, which launched on 25 June 2025, covers physical and mental wellbeing support that people can access from local and national charities and groups, advice and guidance in relation to the cost of cancer, and information about Northumbria Healthcare’s cancer prehabilitation provision.

A ‘Cancer information and support’ webpage already provides information and support for patients at the trust and their families.

Mel Freedman, Macmillan personalised cancer lead at Northumbria Healthcare, said: “Our cancer web page has been accessed thousands of times in the past year, but we wanted to make it even easier and quicker for people to get the support they need.

“We asked patients what matters to them to create our new app and involved them in co-designing it. What we’ve come up with is a bitesize version of the website.

“We know that going through cancer is about much more than the treatment people have, and we want to make sure we support patients and their families every step of the way.”

The app, developed with support from Bright Northumbria Healthcare Charity, is free to download via the Google and Apple app stores.

Rob Graham, head of Bright Charity, said: “We were impressed by the team’s commitment to helping patients live with and beyond cancer, so we were very happy to support this project.

“We hope that the app can help patients and their families going through difficult times by providing them with easy access to the support, guidance and advice they may need.”

In March 2025, Northumbria Healthcare announced that it had acquired the business of Health Call Solutions Limited to increase its range of software products and improve healthcare for patients.

It will acquire software products to better manage healthcare data, enable NHS patients to manage appointments more easily and deliver care remotely into homes and communities.

The move continues Northumbria Healthcare’s digital strategy of developing and delivering services that support both the clinical staff and the public in accessing care, which has included the digitisation of millions of health records and the creation of new systems that help medical teams work more effectively.