Excellence in cancer care symposium

Leading cancer specialist, Professor Karol Sikora, was amongst a group of doctors from across the Hampshire region to attend a symposium to discuss new models of cancer treatment. ‘EXCELLENCE IN CANCER CARE’ was hosted by CancerPartnersUK and held at the Spire Portsmouth Hospital, site of a new radiotherapy centre due to open later this summer. Speakers also included, David Boote, Consultant oncologist, Simon Holmes, Consultant Urologist and breast cancer specialist Constantinos Yiangou.

Care Conversation Breakfast Seminar - 14th May 2009

The fifth Care Conversation event heard the views of world-renowned Karol Sikora – Medical Director of CancerPartnersUK and Professor of Cancer Medicine – on the future of cancer care

‘Healthcare is in a perfect storm, and it’s global’ Professor Sikora told delegates. ‘Whatever system you look at, it’s just not working.’

People were living longer and had much more access to health information, while society had, in many ways, become more selfish, he said. ‘People want and demand things, and one key issue is the distribution of cancer care.’ This could easily be delivered in an outpatient setting, he said, as hospitals were very often the wrong places – inconvenient or even inaccessible for many people. ‘But the biggest challenge is how we pay for it,’ he said. ‘Cancer is getting expensive.’

Approaching cancer as he would a patient, he said, the problem had begun to be noticed in the 1980s, with slow diagnostic pathways and huge variations in care. The 1995 Calman Hine report made good recommendations but no money followed, while 2000’s NHS Cancer Plan had led to a ‘highly bureaucratic way of doing things that lost huge amounts of money without trace.’ Although the budget for cancer had increased four-fold in the last decade, he said, problems with waiting times persisted, the IT situation remained ‘hopeless’ and there was significant under-capacity in diagnostics and radiotherapy.

By 2007, UK survival figures continued to lag behind the rest of Europe. ‘We’re spending the same amount on cancer as our European colleagues, but the care people are getting is of a lower quality,’ he said. Core problems were inefficiency, lack of initiative and innovation and too many stakeholders – GPs, consultants, PCTs, cancer networks and patient activist groups, among others – all ‘pulling in different directions.’ Levels of patient satisfaction remained low compared to other countries, and the chemotherapy situation was ‘scandalous’, he said. ‘The single payer, single provider model is not for the future.’

So if cancer was the patient, what was the treatment plan? ‘Firstly, diversify the providers,’ he said. What was needed was a system of well-regulated specialist providers dealing with radiotherapy and chemotherapy, rather than local hospital trusts trying to do it themselves. Secondly, the concept of ‘cancer hotels’ – every town with more than 100,000 people should have a cancer centre with high quality facilities and resources, inter-linked IT and no waiting times. Finally, it was necessary to create a system that could evolve, he stressed. ‘On the whole it’s stuck in the past, and the main problem is IT – you can’t integrate the data in any meaningful way.’ If supermarkets could do it, there was no reason why providers couldn’t, he told delegates.

In diversifying providers, some would inevitably fail while others would be very successful, he said, and insurance companies would need to come on board in a much more significant way. ‘The NHS can’t do everything for everybody. Top up payments for extra services is the way it has to go.’

Cancer care would always be a political priority, he said, as no politician could afford to ignore it. However, it would be a shame if the UK became the ‘poor man of Europe’. ‘We can do it,’ he stressed. ‘But it requires complete reform and rethinking of cancer care.’

Precision radiotherapy – a guide to commissioning IMRT and IGRT

Click here to read full doc.

NEW STATE-OF-THE-ART REGIONAL CANCER CENTRE – THE FIRST OF ITS KIND OUTSIDE LONDON

Construction is starting on a state-of-the-art radiotherapy and cancer treatment centre – the first independent unit of its kind outside London – at Spire Portsmouth Hospital in Havant.

The new centre is being constructed and will be operated by CancerPartnersUK, an independent organisation specialising in bringing the latest cancer treatments to patients around the UK. It is being built in Havant as part of a joint initiative with Spire Healthcare to provide world-class cancer treatments to patients in Hampshire, Sussex and the Isle of Wight.

The CancerPartnersUK centre will house the latest generation radiotherapy technologies, including Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) and Image Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT) and will complement the existing cancer services provided at Spire Portsmouth to provide a fully-integrated range of cancer treatments on one site. This is the first independent unit outside London where patients can have radiotherapy on the same site as their other cancer treatments.

Spire Portsmouth’s Hospital Director, Heather Dob says: “Cancer treatment is an important area for us. In recent months we have invested in our new CT and MRI scanners to enhance diagnosis and we also have a dedicated chemotherapy unit. With CancerPartnersUK on site, we believe we have the most comprehensive private cancer treatment service outside London. Here patients will be able to have diagnostics, surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy all in one location in a comfortable, clean environment, with direct access to leading cancer specialists in the area.

CancerPartnersUK was set up by a group of cancer experts to improve the availability of high-quality cancer treatment outside London. Professor Karol Sikora, a leading cancer specialist and Medical Director of CancerPartnersUK said, “With one in three people now affected by cancer there is a huge demand for treatment. In particular there is a national shortage of radiotherapy services* which means that patients often have to wait longer or travel further than is acceptable.”

With the first patients at Spire Portsmouth Hospital’s new centre expected from August 2009, Professor Sikora added: “This new centre will increase local capacity for radiotherapy and the benefits will be far-reaching. All Spire Hospitals’ patients can have their treatment on site, but we will also offer access to patients who are receiving treatment elsewhere. This will inevitably free up capacity in other regional centres.”

Said Heather, “We have consulted with many of the oncologists and cancer specialists working in both the private sector and NHS and we are excited that we are contributing to a significant improvement in cancer care across the region.”

CancerPartnersUK’s new centre is backed by Apposite Capital, a leading investment firm exclusively focused on healthcare. In spite of the economic downturn, the company has remained focused on its objective of enhancing cancer services around the UK, with Portsmouth as the flagship for similar centres over the next two years.



Photo L to r: Rupert Cockcroft, CEO, CancerPartnersUK, Heather Dob, Hospital Director, Spire Portsmouth Hospital, Karol Sikora, Medical Director, CancerPartnersUK 


*National Cancer Strategy and the National Radiotherapy Advisory Group (NRAG) and supported by data from the Swedish Karolinska Institute.

Press cuttings

'Cancer firm expects NHS to fall short'
HSJ, 10th July 2008
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'CancerPartners and Spire launch multi-million pound cancer centres' 
Healthcare Market News, July 2008
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Independent sector provision of radiotherapy

Article by Sarah Hynd and Karol Sikora from 'Imaging & Oncology, 2008'

In over a century of using radiotherapy for the treatment of cancer, there has been amazing evolution in its use, with tremendous change, too, in the interlinking disciplines of physics, imaging, dosimetry, delivery of treatment, and computerisation.

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'Focus on oncology: Cancer drugs - the economic challenge'

Karol Sikora assesses to what extent health technology assessments, the ageing population
and societal changes will influence the future of cancer care

Cancer care costs are spiralling out of control in every healthcare environment. Ageing populations are ‘consuming’ healthcare in vastly increasing quantities. And new technology – drugs, devices and procedures – is increasing the cost of care. At the same time, top-up payments are increasingly used to break treatment-access barriers. In such an environment, cancer patients are beginning to become very sophisticated consumers of clinical services. How much we are willing to pay for an extra year of good quality life is a key consideration for cancer patients of the baby boomer generation. For healthcare providers, the question is "how should people be asked to contribute to their care in an equitable way?"

view pdf