Project Name: The Christie Early Breast Cancer SACT Service Redesign
Project Summary:
This Collaborative Working Project (“CWP”) aims to optimise workforce capacity within the early breast cancer (“eBC”) oncology service to deliver a new eBC Systemic Anti-Cancer Therapy (“SACT”) Clinic over 5 half days per week. To ensure the effective, set up and delivery of this new service significant workforce resource will be required, including the following;
- Consultant time (5 Programmed Activity (PA).
- 2 x 0.6 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) Band 6 SACT Nurses responsible for 10 clinic lists per week
- 5 General Practitioners with Extended Roles (GPwER) 4 hour sessions per week
- 1.0 FTE Band 6 Pharmacy Technician undertaking appropriate administration tasks redistributed from the wider team as well as investigation into innovation technology that may support the service in the future.
- 2 x 0.6 FTE Band 8a Clinical Pharmacist to enable one pharmacist to attend each clinic within scope of this CWP with remaining time dedicated to administration.
- 1.0 FTE Band 4 Coordinator to enable referral management, patient appointment organisation, communication and documentation management, follow up appointment scheduling, support pharmacy team and triage workflow and patient DNA or deferrals.
- 1.0 FTE Band 3 Phlebotomist
Demand is increasing at an unprecedented rate within breast oncology services across The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, as described in further detail in the ‘Background’ section of the PID. The intention is to create a new eBC SACT clinic and maximise efficiency of clinical appointments that will improve the pathway for eBC patients, providing a more efficient and coordinated approach to care.
Through the implementation of this CWP, the aim is to achieve the following;
- Safeguard the future of the Breast Cancer Service at The Christie.
- Redesigning patient pathway in a cohesive way to engage and upskill non-medical prescribers in a most efficient way to ensure patients are treated by the most appropriate healthcare professional, releasing consultant capacity.
- Ensure eBC patients are seen, reviewed and treated in an efficient and timely manner.
- Utilise ePROMs (electronic Patient Reported Outcomes Measures) to assist in triaging of patients to relevant services.
Expected Benefits:
Anticipated benefits for patients
- Faster access to equitable, consistent and standardized care.
- Increased access to education on BC and drug toxicity to improve treatment adherence and consequently patients’ outcomes, supported by a personalised care plan.
- Reduce patient waits in the clinic given extra capacity created by new workforce role.
- Reduced unplanned medical reviews and admissions.
- More streamlined pathway to improve the patient experience and limit visits to the hospital
- Increased and dedicated workforce will improve patient uptake of ePROMs
Anticipated benefits for the organisation(s)
- Increase the overall quality of care and improve equity of access to specialist care for patients with BC requiring treatment initiation, evaluation and monitoring.
- Provision of subject matter expertise to educate other members of the clinical team on treatment options.
- Provide a single point of contact for a dedicated cohort of patients, thereby reducing the potential for unplanned calls being received by the wider clinical team.
- Free up consultant capacity for clinical activities within the Breast Cancer Service that are unique to their skillset.
- Reduce use of emergency triage line and unplanned admissions.
- Workforce efficiency and optimisation by removing administrative burden from clinical staff and coordinating patient care
- Increased clinic efficiency by ensuring all up to date tests results are available at the right time
- Increase the overall quality of care and improve equity of access to specialist care for patients with BC requiring treatment initiation, evaluation, and monitoring
- Potential reduction in the numbers of patients diagnosed with mBC and the associated cost of maintaining treatment for patients with incurable disease.
Anticipated benefits for Novartis
- Better understanding of overall HCP and patient needs
- Optimal use of medicines in line with local/national guidance (including Novartis medicines) in appropriate patients.
- Ethical, professional, and transparent relationship between Novartis and the Healthcare Organisations
Start Date & Duration: November 2025, 24 months in total (18 months clinical activity)
FA-11564854 | November 2025