The Dorset ICS Cancer Programme is working to prevent cancer within our population, diagnose cancer early, achieve great outcomes, and treat our patients as individuals with personalised and equitable care for all.
Senior healthcare leaders in Dorset, including the NHS Foundation Trusts and Clinical Commissioning Group, agreed to pull together cancer resources to act as one, to bring about transformational change across the Integrated Care System (ICS) and to engage with patients and carers to improve their experience of cancer services.
Our membership includes clinical leads in secondary care, GPs, community nursing services and local authorities as well as representatives from the voluntary sector and charities including Macmillan Cancer Support.
As part of the Wessex Cancer Alliance, the partnership works with NHS England in the south west and south east, to ensure that clinical expertise and evidence-based care drives improvements in outcomes for cancer patients and provides a Dorset-wide approach to accountability and governance.
Our key priorities include improving the early detection and diagnosis of cancer and ensuring that patients living with and beyond cancer have personalised care and holistic recovery plans.
Our key programmes:
- Reduce smoking rates and encourage lifestyle changes that reduce the chance of developing cancer
- Increase uptake of cancer screening in higher risk and lower uptake groups
- Raise public awareness of cancer signs and symptoms and encourage people to contact their GP
- Support and enable Primary Care to improve early detection of cancer through continued education and improvements to referral processes
- Improve the early detection of lung cancer through new approaches to identifying and referring patients at increased risk
- Work with equalities groups and community networks to ensure cancer awareness messages reach the whole Dorset population
- Enable patients that have completed cancer treatment to have more control over their follow-up care
- Continue development of the new Cancer Matters Wessex website to provide information on COVID-19 for people living with cancer, cancer services and support.
To contact the Dorset ICS Cancer Programme please email dcp@nhsdorset.nhs.uk