Innovation Excellence Award

This category is for nominees and teams who have introduced a new approach to service or product development and delivery.

Royal Surrey Diet and Cancer Videos Team

Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust

The Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust’s dietetic service provides expert support to cancer patients with complex nutritional needs, but the team was aware that their service couldn’t reach every single cancer patient. To extend their reach, Macmillan oncology dietitians Nicola Porter and Lindsey Allan won funding to develop a series of user-friendly videos on diet and cancer.

The pair assembled a focus group to give insight on all aspects of content development before producing the videos and posting them to the Royal Surrey’s YouTube channel. Because this platform can generate subtitles in any language, the videos are accessible to non-English speakers and have been viewed not only locally, but nationally and internationally too.

"Patients often go online for information rather than look at the paper leaflets they’re given," explains Lindsey. "Information on the internet can be contradictory, but now our evidence-based videos are the number one search result for 'diet and cancer videos'. The reaction has blown us away."

Sophie Maycock

The Christie NHS Foundation Trust

Advanced ovarian cancer is a leading cause of malignant bowel obstruction, a life-limiting condition that causes complex symptoms that require careful management. The condition often leads to numerous hospital admissions as well as significant distress for patients and their families.

To support patients to live as well as possible, The Christie NHS Foundation Trust developed the role of Macmillan Palliative Clinical Nurse Specialist in Secondary Gynaecological Cancer. The proactive role, which was taken on and shaped by Sophie Maycock, is the first of its kind in the UK and combines clinical work with research to improve patients’ quality of life. Sophie reaches patients earlier, listens to their needs and then develops new approaches to the planning and delivery of personalised care. Her novel initiatives include developing a gynaecological cancer support group, embedding a palliative care gynaecology oncology MDT and working to reduce the use of ryles tubes.

"It's all about the earlier integration of palliative care," explains Sophie.

South East Wales Immunotherapy Toxicity Service

Velindre NHS Trust

While immunotherapy has revolutionised cancer care and long-term survival outcomes, the drugs involved possess the potential for life-threatening toxicity, so timely expert management is crucial. That’s what the South East Wales Immunotherapy Toxicity Service set out to achieve.

The pioneering Velindre-based service provides streamlined support to patients with toxicities from early recognition to resolution and discharge. Initiatives include same day emergency care, robust guidelines and pathways to standardise patient care, and collaborative MDTs. To share their knowledge with clinical colleagues across the UK, the team have helped establish and co-ordinate a monthly National Immunotherapy Education Forum and co-created The Immunobuddies, a weekly podcast.

"Immunotherapy is amazing, but toxicity can compromise it," explains Consultant Medical Oncologist Ricky Frazer. "If we can pick up toxicities earlier and manage them before they become too serious, we can keep people on treatment. That is ultimately what most patients want, so the impact the service can have on patient journeys and outcomes is incredible."

South West Radiotherapy Late Effects Service

Somerset NHS Foundation Trust

While radiotherapy is a life-saving cancer treatment, the patients who receive it can develop late side effects that can be life-long, life-changing, and sometimes life-limiting. These symptoms often present long after any formal hospital follow-up period and, historically, it’s been unclear where the responsibility for treating them lie.

To address this, eight therapeutic radiographers in cancer centres across the South West came together to form a radiotherapy late effects service that provides crucial patient-centred support. Not only has this innovative collaboration brought equity of care across the region, but it has also embedded pathways that respond to patient needs earlier.

"Previously, patients with late effects had to circle services trying to get help while constantly repeating their story," explains Macmillan Consultant Therapeutic Radiographer Lisa Durrant. "Now that we’re here, we offer a holistic service that joins the dots. Many patients express their relief during consultations because they feel it’s the first time they’ve been properly listened to."