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GMCCN exists to improve cancer services for its patients by bringing them into line with the ‘vision’ set out in the NHS Cancer Plan, the Cancer Reform Strategy and the North West Cancer Plan. (Click here for more on this guidance.)
We are committed to ensuring that a high standard of care is available to all patients with cancer or suspected cancer. We are doing this by working to improve the management of healthcare and the delivery of cancer services.
GMCCN is committed to involving people who use cancer services in decision making as much as possible. This includes patients and carers. If you have been affected by cancer you can find out more about how to get involved with our patient and user group here.
GMCCN’s work is centred on the following:
Planning & prioritising
GMCCN continually looks at the cancer services available across the whole area, and develops ‘strategic service delivery plans’ and ‘action plans’. These plans look at ways to improve delivery of cancer services.
This involves working closely with front line staff (such as clinicians, doctors and nurses) as well as patients. This work is done through our many working groups, such as the Clinical Sub Groups and Crosscutting Groups. Learn more about the Clinical Sub Groups and Cross Cutting groups here.
Implementing national guidance
Highly-skilled healthcare professionals regularly meet and decide on the best way for national NHS cancer services to work. This then becomes national guidance, and our role is to make sure that all local services are carried out in this way.
This includes guidance produced by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) , such as Improving Outcomes. You can find out more about NICE and more about Improving Outcomes Guidance for specific cancer types by clicking on the link.
Monitoring compliance and adherence
GMCCN helps cancer services monitor how well they are working to guidelines. We do this by auditing how services are performing and whether they are achieving their targets.
An example of this kind of monitoring is ‘Peer Review’. You can find out more about Peer Review here.
By allowing local areas to compare their performance with others, and find out how each has improved, services across Greater Manchester and Cheshire can be made better. This sharing of ‘good practice’ is another key role of GMCCN.
Service improvement and redesign
Through work with NHS Improvement, GMCCN improves the experience and outcomes for patients with suspected or diagnosed cancer.
We do this by improving and modernising the way that different NHS departments work together to deliver cancer services at various stages of a patient’s healthcare journey. You can find out more about our work here.
Collaborative commissioning
GMCCN aims to bring together the different organisations across Greater Manchester and Cheshire who ‘purchase’ separate cancer services for their own areas to joint-fund bigger and better schemes which can be used by patients across the network.
This offers better value for money and can even save money, which can then be re-invested in cancer treatment and prevention schemes.
Communicating
As the NHS is a regularly changing organisation, we also act as a communication ‘hub’ by receiving and passing on information, emerging guidance and other cancer-related issues to health professionals and patients in the area.
Using our links with other cancer networks and national health organisations, we ensure that all those involved in cancer care within Greater Manchester and Cheshire remain knowledgeable, prepared and up to date about possible changes and new ways of working.
Influencing National Policy
The government and the Department of Health will learn from the experiences of GMCCN as we try to change cancer services across our own area. This means that future government policy and “ways of thinking” can be based on factual past experience about what worked well and what could have been more effective here.
Click here to find out more about how GMCCN functions, its structure and its key work-streams.
