Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board awarded funding by Moondance Cancer Initiative to improve cancer outcomes in Wales

Moondance Cancer Initiative has announced more than half a million pounds is to be given to seven projects led by teams from across NHS Wales as part of its latest funding round to improve cancer outcomes in Wales.

Among the awarded projects is an initiative that will see surgical nurse practitioners trained to deliver daily outpatient biopsy clinics across the Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board. This pathway expansion will shorten the time to diagnose numerous head and neck cancer patients, while also releasing capacity for other patients awaiting diagnoses and treatment.

In addition to this pathway expansion, Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board has also been awarded funding for a Lung Cancer Navigator to support the delivery of the Lung Health Check pilot. This work will assist in the operational assessment of targeted lung cancer screening in Wales and will help patients be diagnosed earlier and more efficiently. The navigator will support patients through the lung cancer clinical pathway to ensure that they receive appropriate care in a timely manner. The service will be evaluated to support roll out across Wales in the future.

Further innovations funded include Cytosponge™, a new diagnostic test to Wales that could assist in earlier cancer diagnosis for patients with Barrett’s oesophagus in Powys Teaching Health Board, having previously received Moondance funding in Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board. A diagnostic liquid biopsy test, led by the All Wales Medical Genomic Service, which is used for suspected lung cancer patients to shorten the time to diagnosis and increase the number of patients that receive targeted therapy has also been funded. Swansea Bay University Health Board has been granted funding to test the use of CanSense, a liquid biopsy test able to detect bowel cancer, in a strategic approach to the longest waiting colonoscopy surveillance patients

These projects have been selected by Moondance as part of the organisation’s Early Detection and Diagnosis Funding Call, which aims to accelerate the implementation of changes that will increase the number of cancers diagnosed at an earlier stage in Wales. The funding round saw a total of 34 projects put forward, with seven of those successfully chosen.

Moondance Cancer Initiative exists to find, fund and fuel brilliant people and brave ideas to make Wales a world leader in cancer survival. With this latest round of funding, there are now 26 active projects being funded by the Initiative across Wales, including the expansion of the Rapid Diagnosis Centre in Swansea Bay and the introduction of Transnasal endoscopy in Cardiff and Vale and Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Boards.

Prof. Jared Torkington, Clinical Director at Moondance Cancer Initiative, said: “We have the unique opportunity at Moondance to fund ideas that can have a tangible impact on earlier detection and diagnosis for cancer patients, and therefore help improve cancer outcomes across Wales. We know that waiting lists and referrals for cancer treatments are at an all-time high, so NHS Wales needs to think and do in a different way. Connecting with pioneers and supporting ideas like these is a step towards making Wales a world leader in cancer outcomes.”

For more information, visit: https://moondance-cancer.wales/

16/12/22