This week’s leadership message comes from Jason Pawluk, Managing Director of West Yorkshire and Harrogate Cancer Alliance

Posted on: 7 February 2025

Jason Pawluk Hello, my name is Jason.

The winter period is always a busy time for colleagues in the Cancer Alliance, as well as our planning and performance colleagues working at system and at place level, who seek to plan against the delivery expectations set by NHS England for next year. Their roles can go unnoticed, but they are vital to keeping the system wheels turning, providing a positive description of the excellent work being delivered to transform outcomes locally, alongside a realistic portrayal of constraints, barriers and difficult choices.

As we know, this period overlaps with the main pressure points of the operating year for our primary care and acute system colleagues who are seeking to manage significant emergency care and elective pressures, alongside maintaining their commitments to ensure that cancer pathways deliver for those people who need to use them.

In the past, the planning process used to kick off before Christmas - as folks were signing off on Christmas Eve. This typically included a sometimes bewilderingly detailed chronicle of spreadsheets, narrative templates, system directives and financial allocations statements. More recently, colleagues have become used to seeing these documents appear incrementally towards and following the end of the January sales, meaning that planning processes have had to become nimbler, based on assumed directions of travel.

This year, the process has been further complicated by the concurrent consultation over a refreshed Change NHS consultation; a planned new 10 year long-term plan for cancer later in the year, building on the central themes and a previous Call for Evidence from the last administration. Devolution of some specialised commissioning to ICBs from April 2025, building on work from previous years, is also changing the planning landscape, including arrangements for the delivery and funding of cancer services.

Overall, the planning environment feels more ambiguous - but the thrust of prioritising actions which improve patient outcomes and experience effectively in a resource constrained climate remains constant. Within this ecosystem, the role of Cancer Alliances, working together in partnership with their integrated care systems, is another constant. West Yorkshire and Harrogate Cancer Alliance will continue to receive dedicated funding, with focuses on achieving earlier diagnosis for people affected by cancer and delivering specific pathway transformation work which supports operational performance recovery and delivery. System priorities will continue to nuance and balance national priority asks with functions and challenges which occur locally.

The Cancer Alliance will continue to support this space, making sure that our focus also supports acting on health inequalities; seeing quality, personalisation, experience and performance as being equally important; and bringing partners together in shared governance models to optimise benefits from the national funding received.

It would be great if you could share our work through your networks. Follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, @WYHCanAlliance, our YouTube channel or contact us via our dedicated website which features regular news bulletins. You’ll also find Cancer Alliance contributions to the monthly ICB updates, as well as news pieces in the weekly Partnership newsletter.

We also work with our partners in the patient-led charity Yorkshire Cancer Community (YCC), who support our patient panel and run a diverse range of awareness raising events and campaigns across the system throughout the year, in particular through our Cancer SMART programme and our Cancer Champions. YCC are always on the lookout for colleagues who may be able to support them in a trustee or volunteering capacity so if this is you then please get in touch!

My quest to keep this update shorter than the planning materials (!) means that I can’t do justice to all the great work that our team does, in collaboration with our partners. But to pick out a few highlights from 2024:

Winning awards: We won the Cancer Experience of Care Award for our Remove the Doubt campaign through the Patient Experience Network PENNA which focused on breaking down barriers for cervical cancer screening amongst the transgender and wider LGBT+ communities - in partnership with charity OUTPatients and MOBAS.
Branching out: We have diversified our external partnerships, continuing to work collaboratively with Yorkshire Cancer Research to bring an exciting, targeted case finding programme to West Yorkshire – more news soon! With YCC, we also presented at the UK Oncology Forum which brings together clinicians, professional bodies and subject matter experts to discuss the future of cancer care. And we championed our work and awareness raising programmes via a series of podcasts, local TV and radio appearances.
Developing leadership: The Cancer Alliance has filled several clinical leadership roles, building on the capabilities we have via our clinical director, professional and clinical lead, diagnostic lead and network of Optimal Pathway Group clinical chairs. These roles will develop a series of place-based corporate and clinical lead posts which we hope to complete by the end of the financial year. We have also completed the third cohort of its system leadership development prospectus with external partners, the 360 Degree Society, building the capacity for transformational change across our system, alongside a dynamic and ambitious OD strategy.
Transforming care: Excellent progress has been made on the development of the full business case covering the reconfiguration of services locally linked to non-surgical oncology. Investment and support for this case is crucial to delivering the sustainable care we need to see in a service line which will continue to grow in demand in the future as more people are diagnosed with cancer and more have further and increasing lines of treatment with better outcomes.

Drawing together these diverse themes are our values which we are proud to champion in the work we do in our system. We are proud to be courageous, honest and kind, and we hope that you continue to see our philosophy shine through in terms of not just what we do, but how we operate. Whilst times may be tough and our planning more complex than normal, these values remain a constant and will help us make the right choices as we work together with colleagues.

Have a good weekend everyone.

Jason

To mark Time to Talk Day on 6 February, this week’s blog comes from Jock Crawford, Freedom to Speak Up Guardian Lead for NHS West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (ICB), to encourage people to have open and honest conversations

Hi, my name is Jock.

Being asked to write a blog for Time to Talk Day made me reflect on the current state of my own mental health. I was diagnosed with prostate cancer in October last year and underwent surgery during the first week of January. It’s still early days, but I feel I’m making good progress in my recovery. I made the decision to be open with my colleagues, friends and family, discussing my fears and anxieties following my diagnosis. Without doubt, many of these conversations helped me greatly in coming to terms with my situation and provided a stronger position from where to make decisions about my preferred course of treatment.

Usually, I’m on the other side of similar conversations. As a Freedom to Speak Up Guardian, it’s my role to provide a safe space for colleagues to raise concerns which are impacting their work environment. It will come as no surprise that many of the concerns raised through Freedom to Speak Up impact the individual’s mental health, and I am often told that having someone to discuss their concerns with provides support and relief.

The proverbial saying ‘a problem shared is a problem halved’ expresses the idea that, when in difficulties, it is useful to talk to someone about them. Fortunately, we have a number of groups who can provide that psychological support. Our amazing networks of mental health first aiders, staff networks, trade union representatives and now our Freedom to Speak Up champions can all provide a safe space for confidential conversations. Or simply making time to have that conversation with a trusted colleague can provide great comfort.

Talking openly and honestly can be the first step towards better mental health. Each organisation in our partnership will have its own resources and networks, but please remember that the West Yorkshire Staff Mental Health and Wellbeing Hub is also here to support everyone.

You can also get in touch with me at jock.crawford1@nhs.net

What's been happening this week?

National medical director praises Yorkshire and the Humber’s role as a hub for health innovation

We were delighted to welcome Professor Sir Stephen Powis, NHS England’s National Medical Director, to Yorkshire and the Humber recently to explore how our region is at the forefront of health innovation.

Sir Stephen began his day at Nexus at the University of Leeds where he met with innovators and regional leaders to discuss how we can work together to accelerate the implementation of innovation adoption in the NHS to benefit more patients.

In the afternoon Sir Stephen visited Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust to learn how digital innovation and AI can help transform patient care, from robotic surgery to telemedicine in dermatology.

Find out more on the Health Innovation Yorkshire and Humber website.

Airedale launches new app for people with cancer

This week, the cancer team at Airedale NHS Foundation Trust has rolled out Careology to people being treated for cancer to provide 24/7 support and help them manage their condition.

Airedale is the first NHS Trust in the north to offer this new digital innovation, funded by a winning bid to the West Yorkshire and Harrogate Cancer Alliance as part of its innovation competition across the region. It was chosen for its opportunities to improve and personalise patient care.

Find out more on the Airedale website.

Together for better palliative and end of life care – new report published

In May 2023, a group of people met at St Gemma’s Hospice in Leeds to share their hopes (and fears) for the future of palliative and end of life care (PEoLC) across West Yorkshire. This was to be the first of four workshops jointly hosted by the West Yorkshire Hospice Collaborative and the West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership, with the following workshops hosted by Marie Curie, Bradford and Wakefield Hospice.

Partnership working between the West Yorkshire Hospice collaborative and the West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership was imperative for several important reasons. First, we share an ambition for everyone across West Yorkshire to have access to the right palliative and end of life care, at the right time in the place of their choosing. Second, we know that supporting loved ones through the palliative and end of life care journey and through bereavement is a much-valued part of the services provided and has long-term, positive benefits for people’s mental and physical health. Third, we know that the need and demand for both childrens' and adults' services are both set to increase, meaning that there is a pressing imperative to get ahead of demand.

The Together for better palliative and end of life care report (January 2025) captures the output from the four workshops. By looking at the system through the eyes of communities who are currently seldom reached, the workshops began to identify specific barriers for those groups and issues that are common for all users of PEoLC. We hope that the report will be useful for those attending the workshops, people across West Yorkshire who are engaged in delivering PEoLC as well as others who want to draw on the West Yorkshire experience.

New innovation framework

Health Innovation Yorkshire & Humber has published a new innovation framework, designed to encourage stronger and more effective collaborative working between all those involved in developing innovation adoption action plans.

As part of the project, the team interviewed patients with lived experience of health innovations, which are captured in the report ‘Driving Innovation Uptake Through Patient Insight’.

These insights have informed the development of a framework which includes practical steps for those seeking to accelerate the adoption of innovations. The framework was built by aligning what matters to patients with actions that innovation leads can take at various points along the care journey.

A Framework for Driving Innovation Adoption Through Patient Insight and Driving Innovation Uptake Through Patient Insight are now available for download.

NHS launches campaign to support survivors of sexual assault and abuse

During this week’s Sexual Abuse and Sexual Awareness Week (3 to 9 February) the NHS has launched a campaign to raise awareness of sexual assault referral centres (SARCs). SARCs are specialist services that offer free care and support to anyone who has been raped, sexually assaulted or abused at any time in their life. Even though SARCs are available 24/7 across England, many sexual assault and abuse survivors do not know where to go or who to turn to for help. If you have been raped, sexually assaulted or abused and don't know where to turn, search ‘sexual assault referral centres’ for more information or visit www.nhs.uk/SARCs to find your nearest centre.

Children’s Mental Health Week

This week is Children’s Mental Health Week. As part of our work supporting young people’s mental health and wellbeing, we have created a campaign called Let’s Connect that covers these themes: #SafeBase #YoureEnough #WeHearYou.

This campaign provides insight for parents and carers in how to respond and support their child or young person as well as helping young people to provide peer to peer support using their own ideas and tips. Visit our pages on the West Yorkshire Healthier Together website to find out more.