Tumour and pathway groups

Secondary Care

Across the Northern Cancer Alliance, we have several tumour specific pathway groups which bring together multidisciplinary specialists from across the cancer pathway.

These specialists can include diagnostics, treatment, and supportive care, working collaboratively to reduce unwarranted variation in treatment, improve quality and outcomes, and ensure equitable access to high-quality care across the North East and North Cumbria. Each group is clinically led and include representation from our lay reps who bring the patient voice into discussions, ensuring that pathway improvements are informed by both clinical evidence and lived experience.

The NCA currently hosts 8 tumour specific pathway groups, alongside a non-surgical oncology group which supports pathway-wide improvements across all tumour types. Below, you’ll find more detail on the national and local priorities being addressed by each group.

If you are a health professional interested in finding our more about these workstreams please contact us.

  • Rollout of Breast Pain Pathways across all providers and transition to business as usual.
  • Monitor uptake and resilience of the pathway, ensuring equitable access, particularly for underserved populations.
  • Improve immediate reconstruction rates following mastectomy, with targeted action plans for trusts below the national benchmark.
  • Continue leadership in Faecal Immunochemical Testing (FIT) performance, supporting PCNs to reach 80% uptake.
  • Reduce unnecessary colonoscopies by improving triage and safety netting protocols.
  • Address health inequalities in bowel screening uptake, particularly among South Asian men and deprived communities.
  • Roll out the Unscheduled Bleeding on HRT pathway to all eligible providers.
  • Address variation in Faster Diagnosis Standard (FDS) and 62-day performance, focusing on providers with the largest gaps.
  • Deliver behavioural science-informed symptom awareness campaigns targeting high-risk populations.
  • Improve early diagnosis rates through community engagement and targeted interventions.
  • Implement improvement plans for pancreatic and oesophagogastric cancers to reduce treatment delays.
  • Support liver surveillance programmes with robust call/recall systems and transition commissioning to ICBs.
  • Collaborate with the NEY Rare Tumours Network to address regional variation and improve patient experience.
  • Establish Urology Improvement Panels to drive performance improvement across prostate, bladder, and kidney pathways.
  • Expand non-medical LATP biopsy training and implement one-stop haematuria clinics.
  • Address significant variation in FDS and 62-day performance, particularly for ruled-out versus diagnosed patients.
  • Optimise teledermatology services to manage over 50% of urgent suspected cancer referrals.
  • Expand nursing roles and one-stop surgery models to improve capacity and efficiency.
  • Address seasonal variation in performance and support providers with targeted improvement plans.
  • Reduce delays in treatment for high-grade Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma by implementing quality improvement plans.
  • Establish a Haematology Pathway Group to lead transformation and monitor performance.

While not tumour-specific, the Non-Surgical Oncology (NSO) programme plays a vital role in ensuring consistent and high-quality care across cancer pathways. Its priorities include:

  • Evaluating capacity and demand across SACT units, working collaboratively to consider new ways of working
  • Developing sustainable models for Acute Oncology and out-of-hours support.
  • Supporting workforce development, including Advanced Clinical Practitioners and chemotherapy nurses.