IMPROVE UK, Aberdeen

Improving access to surgery and reducing inequalities by unifying gynae-oncology care across Scotland

The background

The majority of women with advanced disease in this region do not receive surgery and there is massive variation in care likely due to the geographical challenges this large area presents. For example, women living in rural areas may find it difficult to attend appointments. 

The plan

This project is being led by Aberdeen Royal Infirmary NHS Grampian, which provides care for women with ovarian cancer across six health boards and a massive geographical area in Scotland. This project wants to improve surgery uptake and overall survival rates for women with advanced ovarian cancer across Scotland, by testing out a new way of working through a real time educational forum. The educational forum will bring together all the departments involved in providing care for these women and challenge the current surgical and radiological services to see where improvements can be made. This will help to build a case for support to increase investment in these services to improve access to care for many women across rural Scotland. It will also test whether this multi-disciplinary forum works well for providing care to patients, helping to continue to provide specialist nurse support, joining up surgical teams and consultant care.