What is IMPROVE UK?
With £1million of funding from the Tampon Tax fund, we launched IMPROVE UK - a a groundbreaking programme to tackle health inequalities for women with ovarian cancer.
It is the first major programme to address inequalities and build an infrastructure to develop a legacy of best practice sharing up and down the country.
Ultimately, this will improve survival rates and address inequalities in care for all women with ovarian cancer in the UK regardless of where they live, their age or ethnicity.
Why do we need IMPROVE UK?
The best ovarian cancer survival rates in the UK match the highest in the world, and yet we currently have one of the poorest average 5yr survival rates in Europe.
The Ovarian Cancer Audit Feasibility Pilot had shone a spotlight on the inequalities faced by women with ovarian cancer based on where they live, their age and ethnicity.
IMPROVE UK is a series of 7 quality improvement projects aiming to improve ovarian cancer survival rates in the UK.
About the IMPROVE UK Pilot Awards
Ovarian Cancer Action awarded funding for seven one-year improvement pilots that addressed the inequalities that ovarian cancer patients face across the secondary care pathway and aimed to ensure equal access to the best quality treatment and care.
IMPROVE UK Pilots needed to address one of the following inequality categories:
- A) Age – Pilots focussed on improving outcomes / patient experience for older women
- B) Minority Groups - Pilots focussed on improving outcomes / patient experience for minority groups (including and not restricted to BAME, LGBTQ+)
- C) Location – Pilots focussed on improving outcomes for women who live in areas of the UK with poorer outcomes
IMPROVE UK Pilots were required to have one of the following objectives:
A) Make changes to treatment pathways to target potential improved patient survival rates and/or improve access to specialised care
and/or
B) To improve patient experience and aim to ensure equal access to the best quality treatment and care