Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust launches a post-referral service for suspected skin cancer with Skin Analytics
In November 2023, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT) were one of the nine additional NHS trusts awarded funding to pilot Skin Analytics’ AI medical device (DERM) to detect cancerous skin lesions… We’re thrilled to announce that launch day has come and MFT will be delivering a post-referral service for suspected skin cancer with Skin Analytics as of May 2024.
Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust receives ever-increasing urgent skin cancer referrals which result in the need for unsustainable numbers of face-to-face appointments. By implementing Skin Analytics’ AI driven teledermatology service, together we’ll aim to discharge more than 25% of patients with benign lesions waiting on their post-referral urgent suspected skin cancer pathway. Not only giving reassurance to these patients but crucially, freeing up Trust dermatology capacity for patients with skin cancer.
Skin Analytics’ safe and evidence-backed AI called DERM – the only UKCA Class IIa AI as a Medical Device for dermatology – assesses dermoscopic images of skin lesions for skin cancer, helping triage patients to the right place at the right time. With this, we’re aiming to support MFT to consistently achieve Faster Diagnosis Standard targets. The quicker the access to a skin cancer diagnosis, the higher the survival rates – and melanoma survival rates are as high as 99% when caught early.
Tom Berry, Divisional Director for Medicine and Outpatients at MFT commented on the partnership with Skin Analytics, ‘The deployment provides a real opportunity for us to innovate the way we provide care for patients referred into our dermatology service with suspected skin cancer. Dermatology services are under pressure across the NHS in England, particularly with increased referral trends for suspected skin cancer. We expect DERM will help us to maximise the capacity of our specialist consultant dermatologist workforce, which will support the team to see and treat patients in an efficient and timely way across both cancer and non-cancer pathways. The implementation of this approach will also support the service to embed the new process ahead of the expected seasonal increase in demand for skin cancer pathways.’
Dr David Rutkowski, Consultant Dermatologist at MFT also commented, ‘Deploying with Skin Analytics will help us address the gap between demand and capacity at MFT and reserve dermatology capacity to focus on the face-to-face treatment of patients. I’m eager to see the impact of this partnership and proud to be involved in enabling innovation that ultimately drives better patient outcomes.’
Since 2020, Skin Analytics have been supporting NHS dermatology teams and are currently deployed across 15 NHS sites in both primary and secondary care. During that time, DERM has been used in pathways that have seen more than 92,000 patients and identified more than 10,000 cancers.
Skin Analytics are working for a world where no one dies from skin cancer, and it’s great to see the team at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust are motivated to be a part of it.