Congratulations to the Humber and North Yorkshire Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) surveillance team after they scooped the “’Better Together (Collaboration)” award at the Cancer Alliance conference recently.
The team supports people at risk of liver cancer after developing advanced chronic liver disease, offering them targeted ultrasounds known as ultrasound surveillance every six months to check for signs of cancer.
A regional Band 7 Clinical Nurse Specialist and a Band 4 pathway navigator have enrolled more than 2,600 patients living in the catchment areas of three NHS organisations – Hull University Teaching Hospitals, Northern Lincolnshire and Goole and York & Scarborough.
The programme has increased the number of patients receiving ultrasound surveillance by around 1,000 since it was launched in 2025 by breaking down barriers to patient engagement with a patient-centred, solution-based approach.
Since its launch last year, the team has worked collaboratively with hepatology, radiology, business intelligence, management and cancer alliance teams to:
- Identify people at risk of liver disease eligible for ultrasound surveillance every six months
- Adopt the NHS England Hepatocellular carcinoma surveillance: minimum standards
- Establish robust patient databases for each trust
- Deliver care pathways to support the HCC surveillance programme
- Provide a pragmatic and individualised approach for people requiring additional support from harder-to-reach communities to attend HCC surveillance scans and clinical reviews
- Produce required data for NHS England quality indicators and performance criteria
- Creation of shared learning and networking opportunities for nursing and radiology team
These achievements were fulfilled by proactive interdisciplinary cross team and area working, particularly between nursing and radiology teams, demonstrating considerable progress in an area of patient care with unmet needs.