Greater Manchester Cancer Alliance

It’s World Lung Cancer Day. Lung cancer is one of our greatest challenges here in Greater Manchester, but there’s lots of work underway to improve outcomes for our lung cancer patients. Here are just a few examples: 🔵 An ongoing programme of work to support timely presentation of those with potential lung cancer symptoms, promoting symptom awareness throughout the year. 🔵 Self referral chest x-ray is available in 2 of our 10 localities with plans underway to expand further. This service allows eligible individuals to attend directly for a chest x-ray, removing barriers and reducing delays in seeking help. 🔵 Our award winning Single Queue Diagnostics Programme has saved 19,000 pathway days in 2024/25 alone, allowing patients to access the first available appointment for their specialist diagnostic tests, even if it means travelling to a different hospital. 🔵 Our one stop clinic for complex lung treatment patients has reduced treatment time by 15 days and increased 12-month survival rates by 10% — a huge step forward for patients with more complex needs. 🔵 Accelerating lung cancer diagnosis via the use of AI technology – AI chest x-ray read to prioritise abnormal x-rays being reported — helping improve early diagnosis rates across the region. Together, we're transforming the lung cancer pathway in Greater Manchester — driving earlier diagnosis, faster treatment, and ultimately better outcomes for our patients. #WorldLungCancerDay #GMLungCancer

#GreaterManchester has become the first Integrated Care Partnership to diagnose more than 1,000 lung cancer earlier thanks to innovative NHS Lung Cancer Screening. The screening specifically targets people who are at an increased risk of lung cancer to help improve early diagnosis of lung cancer. These people are offered a lung health check which takes place onboard a mobile clinic, often parked in supermarket car parks. Almost 130,000 people have now attended the service in Greater Manchester where they talk to a nurse about their lung health. Over 60,000 people - found to be at higher risk of lung cancer - were referred for a low-dose CT scan onboard a mobile clinic on the very same day. Most people will get reassurance that everything is OK. But for 1,000 people, the check has resulted in a lung cancer diagnosis. Almost 80% of the lung cancers identified in Greater Manchester were found at the earliest stages of one and two, when it is potentially curable. Tom Harrison’s check showed he had lung cancer, despite him having no symptoms at all. But he was diagnosed at the earliest possible stage – stage one. Tom, 70, from Farnworth, underwent surgery to remove part of his lung and is now cancer free. He said: “My lung health check saved my life so it's fantastic news to hear that more than 1,000 lung cancers have now been found through the checks in Greater Manchester. That's more people who, like me, wouldn't have known they had lung cancer otherwise who can get treated earlier." People diagnosed with lung cancer at the earliest stages are nearly 20 times more likely to survive for five years than those whose cancer is caught late. See the link in the comments to find out more. #GMLungHealthCheck #WorldLungCancerDay

Do you work with people having treatment for head and neck cancer? We've worked with patients in #GreaterManchester to produce two new animations to help people during and after treatment for head and neck cancer. They offer advice about for people finding eating difficult or wondering what they should be eating. Please watch the full videos and share with patients who might find these useful: https://lnkd.in/e6i8gPvd #GMHeadandNeckCancer #WorldHeadAndNeckCancerDay

Are you a medical professional working in #Oldham? Have a moment? Complete this short survey and make a difference! 📝Survey is related to cervical screening. 📊Oldham has recorded the 4th lowest uptake across Greater Manchester, and there are big differences between GP practices, with the rate of the highest performing practice being 80% and the lowest performing practice being 42%. ➡️More details and link to survey: https://lnkd.in/eicwkShh 👩⚕️ #CervicalScreening #SmearTest #OldhamHealth #WomensHealth #TakeTheTest #PreventionIsPower #NHS #Oldham

Patient experience will always be a priority for us. The latest 2024 National Cancer Patient Experience Survey (NCPES) results highlight the excellent standard of care being delivered in Greater Manchester. It also helps us to identify where improvements can be made. In total, 2,062 patients from Greater Manchester responded, which resulted in a 46% response rate. On average, patients from Greater Manchester rated their care 9.1 out of 10, surpassing the national average of 8.9. The results demonstrate some year-on-year improvements for our region, including: - 81% of patients said they got the right level of support for their overall health and wellbeing from hospital staff, compared to 78% in 2023 - 87% of patients said hospital staff always did everything they could to help the patient control pain, compared to 83% in 2023 - 87% of patients were told they could have a family member, carer or friend with them when told diagnosis, compared to 84% in 2023 Thank you to all healthcare professionals in Greater Manchester for their hard work, and to patients for sharing their honest experience with us. Patient voice is vital in shaping improvements. If you work with any patients/carers who might like to share their experience to influence change, you can signpost them to our website. For more information, visit the NCPES website: https://lnkd.in/eP7ErY6W

📣 Our Communications and Engagement Team has been shortlisted for the #CommsHERO Team of the Year Award 2025. 🥳🎉 The award recognises teams who consistently produce exceptional work that: • delivers impactful results 💥 • drives their organisation forward 📈 • collaborates seamlessly with partners🧑🤝🧑🏽 • and where every member of the team plays their part. 👨👩👧🏽👦 Our team highlighted some of their recent work including: • raising awareness and improving knowledge about the symptoms of ovarian cancer and bowel cancer through the two #ThisVanCan cancer awareness roadshows covering more than 68 venues 🚚🚚 • supporting the roll out of Lung Cancer Screening with four mobile clinics moving frequently around Greater Manchester to target those most in need with versatile and agile comms 🫁 • organising the Greater Manchester Cancer Awards 2024 🏆 • sharing best practice with other comms teams nationally🎓 Good luck to everyone nominated! #GMLungHealthCheck #GMCancerAwards24 #JoinTheBowelMovement #GMOvarianCancer #GMBowelCancer #GMBowelCancerScreening

We are excited to work with Lucida Medical to launch a new AI-tool which helps identify men who need prostate cancer treatment most urgently at hospitals in the region. Greater Manchester Cancer Alliance is one of five cancer alliances to share a £2.25 million cash injection announced by the Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) Healthcare to fund the scheme.

Huge thanks to members of the Prostate Cancer Support in #Stockport who have been providing important feedback to our Personalised Care Manager Olivia Gunby. Olivia is working on a project to help improve psychological support and mental health for people who experience cancer and wanted get patient feedback 📝 on the animations 🎬 the Alliance is currently developing. The short animations will explore changes people might experience to their relationships ❤️, body 🧍and intimacy 💑 after cancer. One animation will be aimed at people who have experienced prostate, penile, anal or bladder cancer. We got some great feedback and now plan to include this in the animations to help future cancer patients and professionals. Look out for the finished product later this year. Thanks to our patient representative Stephen Wilson 👏 who organised the visit. #MentalHealthSupport #CommunityVoices #PatientLedCare #HealthEducation #IntimacyAndWellbeing #LivedExperienceMatters

We are excited to work with NIHR Manchester Biomedical Research Centre and The University of Manchester on this important study to improve screening and early detection of lung cancer for high-risk Hodgkin lymphoma survivors within the existing NHS Lung Cancer Screening Programme. #GMLungHealthCheck

Greater Manchester Cancer Alliance is excited to be involved in two of these projects in #GreaterManchester: ⭐ AI-assisted prostate MRI for improving early detection and diagnostic efficiency of prostate cancer within the NHS ⭐ Implementing and Evaluating Lung Cancer Screening for High-risk Hodgkin Lymphoma Survivors within the NHS Targeted Lung Health Check Programme