My Clinical Outcomes for University Hospitals Sussex
University Hospitals Sussex Using Digital PROMs as Key Part of New Enhanced Supportive Care Service
University Hospitals Sussex are using MCO as part of an Enhanced Supportive Care (ESC) project to get advanced visibility of Quality of Life data from patients who are asked to register by oncology colleagues prior to a referral to palliative care.
Patients are asked to complete the 30-item EORTC QLQ-C30 cancer Quality of Life assessment, and the immunotherapy toxicity monitoring assessment every two weeks in MCO, with results then immediately available to both the ESC team and the patient’s referring oncology team in real-time. By capturing detailed information at regular intervals, the pathway supports early identification of treatment-related toxicities, such as arthralgia, colitis, dermatitis, hepatitis and pneumonitis. This provides the opportunity for the ESC team to potentially prioritise their restricted capacity and act to intervene in a patient’s care earlier than might otherwise have been possible.
Clinician’s Use of MCO at University Hospitals Sussex
University Hospitals Sussex breast oncologist, Dr Richard Simcock, explains how he uses My Clinical Outcomes with patients in the clinic in this short video.
With the use of MCO:
Patients value being able to diarise their symptoms and view their own data, tracking progress.
Doctors can see instantly whether they need to check in on a patient
Doctors can analyse patient data to assist with treatment and see if therapies are having a benefit.
It provides system level data – for example analysis showed one of the most significant concerns was fatigue, indicating the need for new targeted support for patients.
UHS Health Economic Analysis Published
4th April 2022
Unity Insights, formerly Kent, Surrey and Sussex Academic Health Sciences Network (AHSN), undertook health economic modelling alongside quantitative and qualitative data collection to provide a report evaluating health economic outcomes of the supportive oncology project.
“(Enhanced Supportive Care) provides earlier access to supportive care for patients who are towards end-of-life or with treatable but not curable cancer. It is typical to see substantial use of the healthcare system within these cohorts; therefore, the primary benefits identified for this programme focus on a reduction in the use of hospital resources to generate healthcare cost savings.”
“The service is not limited to patients with palliative cancer or within the Sussex region - other patients with chronic conditions would likely benefit from ESC.”
Key findings included:
🚑 Reduction in unplanned admissions & length of stay
🤝 Proactive & earlier supportive care
💰 c.£1.20 back for every £1 spent
📈 c.£11.2M saved over 5yrs if scaled across SE #NHS region.
To read the report in full click here.
Clinical, Quality of Life and Cost Benefits Recently Published in British Medical Journal, June 2022
One year after the introduction of MCO - collection and analysis of PROMs from patients with treatable but not curable cancers at University Hospitals Sussex - the results are now published in the British Medical Journal.
In this publication, the BMJ for the first time has reported that the combination of PROMs with supportive oncology services, could save the NHS substantial amounts of money. The results from this project demonstrate the positive impacts for patients and hospitals and clinics. Some of the key findings from this study include:
5% fewer unplanned admissions with hospitals
Length of admissions shorter by an average of 1.43 days
Reduced risk of emergency admission to hospitals
In addition to this, results show a return on investment with a benefit cost ratio of 1.4 – that is, for every £1 invested in the service, £1.40 was saved per patient.
Click here to read the article: https://dx.doi.org/10.1136/spcare-2022-003716
University Hospitals Sussex Routine Use of PROMs in Mixed Oncology Population
University Hospitals Sussex have implemented the routine use of electronic remote PROMs using MCO in a mixed oncology population.
In this short report, published in Clinical Oncology, it was concluded that “routine collection of electronic remote PROMs is an effective and useful strategy to provide real-time clinical feedback to teams”.
People living with treatable but not curable cancer often experience a range of symptoms related to their cancer and its treatment. During the COVID-19 pandemic, face-to-face consultations were reduced and so remote monitoring of these needs was necessary. The study demonstrates that real world remote electronic PROMs collection is feasible and adds value to cancer care. It concluded that patients are “willing to consistently engage with electronic PROMs over a period of months” and that “Electronic PROMs are useful for the remote monitoring of patients living with cancer and identifying those who need urgent intervention”.
Other Publications about this Project
Integrating ePROMs: A key opportunity for England’s National Cancer Plan
MCO’s CEO, Dr. Tim Williams, had the opportunity to contribute to a letter, published in the Journal of Cancer Policy, advocating for ePROMs to be embedded in England’s National Cancer Plan.
In response to the UK government’s Call for Evidence for the new National Cancer Plan, this letter makes a compelling case for integrating ePROMs into routine cancer treatment.
"To ensure all cancer patients receive consistent, high-quality care, ePROMs must be embedded in the National Cancer Plan. These digital tools provide real-time insight into patients’ symptoms, treatment effectiveness, and long-term quality of life—helping clinicians personalise care, reduce unnecessary appointments, and improve outcomes."
The letter emphasises the untapped potential of ePROMs in cancer pathways, particularly in:
Improving patient experience by capturing real-world feedback on symptoms and quality of life.
Supporting clinicians with actionable data to tailor treatment decisions.
Enhancing research and long-term monitoring by ensuring standardised data collection across cancer services.
Unity Insights Report: Enhanced Supportive Care
Real-world, mixed methods evaluations can support commissioners to make evidence-based decisions about health care services. The service provided by Unity Insights included utilising health economic modelling alongside quantitative and qualitative data collection.
Monitised benefits included:
Reduction in non-elective admission rate
Reduction in non-elective average length of stay
Other benefits included:
Proactive patient management of with remote PROMs
Earlier provision of supportive care for patients at end-of-life
Click here to read the summary report: https://www.unityinsights.co.uk/our-insights/enhanced-supportive-care/
A Short Report Examining the Introduction of Routine Use of Patient-Reported Outcome Measures in a Mixed Oncology Population
In this short report, published in Clinical Oncology, it was concluded that “routine collection of electronic remote PROMs is an effective and useful strategy to provide real-time clinical feedback to teams”.
People living with treatable but not curable cancer often experience a range of symptoms related to their cancer and its treatment. During the COVID-19 pandemic, face-to-face consultations were reduced and so remote monitoring of these needs was necessary. The study demonstrates that real world remote electronic PROMs collection is feasible and adds value to cancer care. It concluded that patients are “willing to consistently engage with electronic PROMs over a period of months” and that “Electronic PROMs are useful for the remote monitoring of patients living with cancer and identifying those who need urgent intervention”.
Click here to read the article: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clon.2021.11.016
Digital Medicine in Men with Advanced Prostate Cancer – A Feasibility Study of Electronic Patient-reported Outcomes in Patients on Systemic Treatment
Highlights of this article includes:
Electronic patient-reported outcome measures can potentially improve patient care and streamline services.
Digital access and familiarity are lower in older groups.
Electronic patient-reported outcome measures are feasible in clinic but more challenging from home.
Strategies to support remote completion are summarised.
Click here to read the article: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clon.2021.04.008
Latest news
MCO’s project, “PROMs for Cancer Care Support in Sussex”, at University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust has been shortlisted for the a Health Service Journal Digital Award “Empowering Patients Through Digital" in June 2025.
MCO shares Fix IT in Healthcare Prize with University Hospitals Sussex 2023