In April 2021, 22 health care professionals from across the UK became inaugural Clinical Champions for Prostate Cancer UK.
The programme was established to create projects that aim to transform care for people living with or affected by prostate cancer over the next 18 months. 22 Clinical Champions were selected, and we're delighted that Tim Dudderidge from the Focal Therapy Clinic and Southampton University NHS Trust is one of them.
Describing the project work he will undertake through Prostate Cancer UK, Tim says he wants to:
- Reduce the harm in treating prostate cancer through offering active surveillance or focal therapy for suitable men.
- Offer early testing with imaging rather than PSA tests, which may give new momentum for screening for prostate cancer.
- Tim's vision for prostate cancer includes the reduction of harm in treating cancer through offering active surveillance or focal therapy for suitable men. This allows them a choice between that and ‘radical' therapies, which have more side effects but possibly no oncological advantage for many men treated. Early testing with imaging rather than PSA tests may give new momentum for screening for prostate cancer and, when coupled with less risky treatments, may bring benefits without the same harm. This exciting possibility is behind his current project to deliver patient-initiated testing for men in Wessex.
Several of Tim's fellow Champions are pursuing projects that aim to address issues our patients care about deeply.
Edward Calleja from East Sussex Healthcare NHS is implementing a survivorship programme to address the unmet needs of prostate cancer patients through:
- Transforming the erectile dysfunction clinic into a more holistic sexual well-being clinic
- Setting up a dedicated active surveillance programme
- Launching a fitness assessment clinic as part of the preoperative optimisation programme supporting patients physically and mentally prior to their surgery.
We've discussed sexual health and prehab programmes in recent blogs and will keep an active eye on Ed's progress.
Nick Burns-Cox from Taunton & Somerset FT NHS Trust aims to improve the quality of data and the use of a dashboard in the Southwest of England which will be used to highlight improvements needed along the prostate cancer pathway. Nick hopes to transform this into a national tool to ensure the national quality of prostate cancer services and support operational management and planning.
This is an exciting project as we enter a new era of data-driven research and data-informed practice.
Mark Robinson from Aneurin Bevan University Health Board is focusing on reducing the variability in diagnostics across the NHS, particularly in imaging. His project aims to
- Develop a dedicated primary care referral form allowing patients to go straight to test
- Audit mpMRI quality to include each MRI scanner used in each Health Board
- Standardise mpMRI reporting with support for those professionals reporting
- Standardise biopsy techniques in each Health Board and ensure access to transperineal biopsy.
Maintaining high standards and uniformity in prostate imaging and reporting is essential to effective focal therapy and something the Focal Therapy Clinic itself has pioneered through its reporting process and MDT. We look forward to supporting this project.
Willliam Cross from Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is planning to develop an IT system which will assist and guide healthcare teams to provide the latest therapies and record real-world clinical outcomes, which will inform future service improvements. This is focused on providing the patient with a personalised treatment pathway with access to the latest information, support and guidance.
This approach to personalised treatment pathways is something we all aspire to, and we look forward to hearing more about William's project as it develops.
Do any of these projects and areas of research have particular importance to you? Would you like to learn more? We'd love to hear from you.
