The Scottish Care and Coordination Service for Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Cancers (SCOT HPB) formerly the Pancreato-Hepatocellular Cancer Pathway Improvement Project (PHCC PIP)
Hosted by the Scottish Cancer Network, SCOT HPB seeks to address Action 45 of the national Cancer Action Plan for Scotland. Funded by the Scottish Government initially from April 2022 to March 2024 as the Pancreatic and Hepatocellular Cancer Pathway Improvement Project (PHCC PIP), the objectives were to:
- develop and operate a national project to test and evaluate the effectiveness of improved pathways for patients with suspected Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) or Pancreatic Cancer (PC).
- provide a signposting service for all health professionals looking after patients living with HCC or PC.
- provide national education via the SHPBN for Clinical Nurse Specialists (CNS) looking after patients living with HCC.
Data collected from the project has been encouraging in terms of meeting the objectives, however, the project also identified many IT and governance challenges to allow the model to be resilient and scalable.
A funding extensions has been granted to March 2025 to continue the pathway as a national service, renamed SCOT HPB. With the PHCC PIP project phase now concluded, evaluation is underway while the SCOT HPB service is delivered in parallel. As part of the evaluation, feasible options for continuation of the SCOT HPB service are being considered to ensure the benefits of the project are not lost. A stakeholder event was held on 25th April to start considering options for hosting the SCOT HPB service. A full options appraisal is planned to conclude by end of October 2024.
In the meantime, the SCOT HPB service continues to be supported by Clinical Lead and retired pancreatic surgeon, Ross Carter, Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) Mairi MacPherson, Care Co-ordinator Andrea McIntyre and a national team of consultants hosted within their health boards. SCOT HPB remains open for referrals.
SCOT HPB continues to have good engagement with third sector & the team attended a patient, carer & charities workshop in March 2024 The workshop highlighted ideas that more focus is needed on what matters most to patient and their families.
If you have any queries or would like to discuss this further, please contact the team at nss.hpb@nhs.scot