Bolton NHS Foundation Trust deploys AI teledermatology into their urgent cancer pathway
Following Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust, Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust and Heywood, Middleton & Rochdale Integrated Care Partnership, Bolton NHS Foundation Trust are the next Trust in Greater Manchester to deploy DERM into their urgent suspected skin cancer pathway (USSC).
Bolton NHS Foundation Trust (BFT) serves a population of more than 320,000 and receives an ever-increasing demand for dermatology services, with referrals currently standing at 3,200 per year. With no previous teledermatology solution and a finite number of consultant dermatologists to meet the growing need, BFT wanted a safe and timely approach to address their USSC referrals, without the need for additional face-to-face clinics.
By implementing DERM, BFT will remove patients with benign lesions from their dermatologists’ caseload, reserving their capacity while fast-tracking patients with suspected malignant or premalignant lesions who do require urgent care.
How does it work?
Following a GP referral for suspected skin cancer, patients attend an imaging hub at Royal Bolton Hospital where images of their mole or skin lesion are taken by a healthcare professional.
DERM – the only Class III CE marked AI as a Medical Device for dermatology – assesses and classifies these images and is trained to classify the most common malignant, pre-malignant, and benign skin lesions.
Depending on DERM’s assessment, there are two possible management outcomes:
- For patients with suspected benign lesions, DERM confirms ability to discharge. Patients have their results communicated to them and are discharged by BFT with advice on how to continue to monitor their skin.
- For patients with suspected malignant or premalignant lesions, the case is immediately available for a BFT dermatologist review.
Through this pathway, BFT aims to accelerate the diagnosis and management of skin cancer to improve outcomes and patient experiences.
Dr Francis Andrews, Medical Director at Bolton NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Skin cancer is the highest referring cancer speciality within the NHS and we’re seeing rising demands for the service in Bolton.
“Having delved into the evidence and seen the impact adding AI to teledermatology is having at other Trusts across England, we’re hopeful that this partnership with Skin Analytics will enable us to see and treat patients far quicker.
“It’s exciting to be able to drive innovation by combining new technology with the expertise of our dedicated clinical staff to improve health outcomes for people in Bolton.”
Dr Dan Mullarkey, Medical Director at Skin Analytics, said: “It’s great to see more Trusts across Greater Manchester harnessing innovation and deploying DERM to improve patient wait times and free up finite dermatology capacity. Together with BHT, we’ll help address the 3,200 referrals they receive for urgent suspected cancer per year without the need for additional face-to-face clinics.”