Guy's Cancer Academy
2024 annual report
Director's introduction
I am proud to present this year’s annual report, highlighting the impactful work of Guy’s Cancer Academy and our partners. Our commitment to transforming cancer care through innovative education is evident in the diverse selection of projects showcased here.
This past year, we made significant strides locally and globally, including our collaboration at the Global Uro-Oncology Congress in Kolkata, where we helped establish the first pan-India consensus on uro-oncology care.
Our local partnerships have also flourished. The ABC4Nurses project with the European Oncology Nursing Society and our growing accredited courses exemplify our ability to deliver accessible, high-quality education. With over 500 learners across our accredited portfolio, we’ve set new benchmarks using cutting-edge technologies like virtual reality (VR) and a new best-in-class learning platform.
Looking ahead, I am confident that we will continue to lead in delivering education that improves outcomes for those with cancer through an exciting programme of projects lined up for the next 12 months.
Dr Simon Hughes
Director of Guy's Cancer Academy
Consultant Clinical Oncologist, Guy's Cancer Centre
Our year in numbers
The key metrics that demonstrate our reach and productivity over the past 12 months.
35,000+
learners
We reached a record 35,000 learners this year, including healthcare providers enrolled in accredited courses, online continuing professional development (CPD) and preceptorships. Additionally, we expanded our reach to support people with cancer and their families through our tailored resources.
166,000+
views
Our media team had an exceptionally busy year, producing over 1,000 pieces across all educational outputs and dedicated media. We branched out to on-location documentary-style videos and VR, adding a new dimension to our resources.
50+
projects
The Academy had a productive year, developing new projects and resources. We’re excited to be collaborating with various new global partners on major initiatives. Several of these projects have won or been shortlisted for industry awards.
We were thrilled to collaborate with partners from four continents on these projects this year.
In collaboration with the European Oncology Nursing Society (EONS), we developed an online education programme to equip nurses across Europe with specialist knowledge in advanced breast cancer care.
We transformed expert information into interactive online learning, featuring videos, case studies, animations and quizzes, to enhance understanding of advanced breast cancer and its impact on people and their families.
We thoroughly enjoyed working with the Guy’s Cancer Academy team to develop these modules. Their suggestions enhanced the content and learning experience significantly.
We travelled to Kolkata to lead a multi-phase process with top uro-oncology experts from across India.
In collaboration with the Urological Society of India and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, we developed the first pan-India consensus statement on managing three key conditions.
This important work has been commissioned for publication in the British Journal of Urology International - Compass.
We also created a conference trailer, which you can view below.
In March 2023, we hosted 20 oncologists from across Brazil for a two-day CPD-accredited preceptorship on multidisciplinary prostate cancer management.
The feedback was the best the commercial team at Guy’s has ever received for a preceptorship.
Attendees particularly valued insights on extended roles for healthcare professionals, direct participation in multidisciplinary team (MDT) discussions (where they presented challenging cases) and learning to coordinate better services for holistic patient care.
Our Director, Dr. Simon Hughes, travelled to Rwanda to lead an interactive educational workshop on prostate cancer management, palliative care and real world evidence-based research.
The three-day workshop was sponsored and supported by BIO Ventures for Global Health, American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), and Conquer Cancer, the ASCO Foundation. Simon spent the previous 18 months working with these organisations, developing the programme in collaboration with local experts from the Rwanda Cancer Centre, Rwanda Military Hospital, Rwanda Urological Association, Rwanda Cancer Relief and the Rwanda Biomedical Centre.
The programme was delivered by a blend of local faculty from across Rwanda with internationally renowned specialists Dr. Alison Tree from The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and Dr. Zipporah Ali from Kenya.
Our accredited courses
Our accredited courses saw significant changes this year, including a transition to a new learning platform, enhanced course delivery and updated systemic anti-cancer therapy (SACT) administration and patient care course content. These improvements resulted in record learner numbers and our highest satisfaction scores.
Systemic anti-cancer therapy (SACT) course
A total of 475 learners across 72 healthcare trusts and companies completed our ever-popular SACT course, which develops a clinician’s knowledge, skills and experience in administering SACT and managing patient care.
The course’s live sessions continue to evolve, having been redesigned to feature more case studies and discussions, including increased opportunity to apply learning to clinical scenarios. In evaluation surveys from our latest cohort, 98% of learners said they would recommend the course’s live events to others.
Our highly-rated SACT course combines expert clinical knowledge with best practices in education to create an engaging and valuable learning experience. It equips nurses to safely administer SACT while providing compassionate, patient-centred care.
The course covered a range of topics in a clear and understandable manner. I have been able to apply my learning to my day-to-day role as an oncology pharmacist and ultimately improve patient safety.
The tutors are super helpful, very supportive and quick to reply to any queries and provide 1:1 if needed on Zoom!
As a first time SACT trainee, the course really helped me understand and practice better in my line of work. The team is really helpful in answering queries and giving feedback to guide you through.
Our two specialist accredited courses continue to receive fantastic feedback.
Our acute oncology (AOS) course – designed for registered health professionals who care for patients with an acute oncology indication – continues to be very highly rated
Learners have come from 49 different trusts or private companies, with 100% of survey respondents stating that they would recommend the course’s live events to others.
Among many positive reflections on the overall course, one learner said:
This is a great course and I have learnt so much about diagnosis, treatment options and common indications. I have gained so much knowledge which has made me so much more confident in my work as an oncology nurse.
Our prostate cancer care course has attracted nurses, pharmacists, radiographers and more from 31 different Trusts or hospitals. Overall, 93% of evaluation respondents said that the course has improved their practice, with the live online learning again receiving a 100% recommendation rate.
It was by far the best course I have ever done. Brilliantly informative, accessible, and should be compulsory for all prostate clinical nurse specialists and those caring for prostate cancer patients. I am incredibly impressed and can't recommend it highly enough.
Our major partners
We’re pleased to have solidified major partnerships across south east London, collaborating on numerous impactful projects. We also hugely value their input into our strategic direction and prioritisation.
Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust
We continued to collaborate with colleagues across the Trust on various aspects of clinical care, including the St John’s DermAcademy, TAP Academy, College of Healthcare, Imaging Academy, and the head and neck cancer teams at Guy’s Cancer Centre.
South East London Cancer Alliance
(SELCA)
We worked on a wide range of projects funded by and in collaboration with SELCA, from patient education, such as our south east London bowel screening project, to microlearning for GPs. SELCA also provided funding for learners in our accredited courses and our communication course in collaboration with FrontLine Communication.
Guy's & St Thomas' Charity
(GSTT Charity)
Since our initial grant to start the Academy, the GSTT Charity has been a true partner, funding numerous impactful projects. This includes education for people with cancer, and strategic initiatives at Guy’s Cancer Centre, where we delivered the educational components for new services and treatments.
Showcase projects
We’re proud of all our outputs this year, but we’re especially excited to share a few that highlight our exceptional feedback and the new approaches we’ve explored.
Essential information for primary care
We created a series of bitesize modules to support primary care professionals such as GPs in South East London to identify patients who require an urgent suspected cancer referral. The 10-minute modules cover essential information on different types of cancer and their diagnosis, criteria for urgent referral for further investigations, and clinical case studies. We also included the real-life stories of people affected by cancer, who shared their experiences on camera as part of the resource.
Feedback on the resources has been excellent, with an average review score of 4.7 / 5 for the content of the modules, their usability, and whether they would help improve primary care practice.
We worked closely with primary and secondary care colleagues on this project, including the South East London Cancer Alliance (SELCA) who funded this work.
Guy's Cancer Academy has been instrumental in providing the technical know-how, styling and support in producing the suite of visually appealing educational modules.
The team has been incredibly helpful, flexible and accommodating. The whole experience of working with the team at Guy's Cancer Academy has been really positive and enjoyable.
Promoting physical activity
We worked with the physiotherapy team at Guy’s Cancer to create resources to support people living with cancer to be physically active. These included a wide range of exercise videos devised and performed by specialist cancer physiotherapists, and the real-life experiences of Tina, a person affected by cancer.
The resource has received excellent feedback from people affected by cancer, including an average score of 4.8 / 5 for how easy it was to understand, and the same score for how well it aided understanding of how physical activity can help a person with cancer.
The resource also received a commendation for the Eric Watts Award for Excellence in Patient Care and Patient Engagement, from the Royal College of Physicians.
In the past, physical activity and exercise were not a common part of the journey for someone with cancer. The information they received was often lacking in consistency and detail, or didn’t exist at all.
We’re delighted to be able to share this module with our patients and fellow healthcare professionals, and very much appreciate the hard work that Guy’s Cancer Academy put into this great looking resource.
Boosting bowel cancer screening
We played a key role in a hugely important project to increase the uptake of bowel cancer screening among certain underrepresented groups and communities in south east London. These were:
- people from a Black, Asian or minority ethnic background
- people for whom English isn’t their first language
- people with a severe mental health problem
- people with a learning disability.
We led on the planning and creation of the awareness-raising resources within this project, including a series of impactful videos and informative animations.
For the videos, we found and filmed with relevant people and professionals from the target communities, who spoke on camera about their connection to bowel cancer and the importance of screening.
We collaborated with SBRI Healthcare, the South East London Cancer Alliance, iPlato Healthcare and King’s College London on this project, which we hope will increase bowel cancer screening and detection among these audiences, and ultimately help save lives.
Confidence in cancer care: management of neck and shoulder dysfunction
We combined clinical content, 3D anatomy software and people’s real-life stories to create an education module for professionals supporting patients with head and neck cancer.
Aimed at physiotherapists, speech therapists and allied health professionals working in outpatient or community settings, ‘Management of neck and shoulder dysfunction in head and neck cancer’ aims to upskill those who may not have experience in the head and neck cancer field and equip them with specialist background knowledge and foundational treatment principles.
This includes what head and neck cancer actually is, its risk factors and symptoms, how it’s diagnosed and classified, different treatments, and how physiotherapists can help in the management of neck and shoulder dysfunction.
The list of requirements for this course was challenging but Guy's Cancer Academy's refreshing ‘can-do’ approach stood out. They embraced these challenges with enthusiasm and confidence, making us feel excited and assured about the project’s success. I was astounded by the diverse skillset and capability of such a small team. They were able to make the content come alive in the most remarkable way.
The module is incredibly detailed with very relevant information, and has immediate translation into patient care. Despite covering a lot of information, the module is concise and I enjoyed the integrated patient stories/experiences throughout, which constantly contextualises the learning and brings back into real-life scenarios.
Coming soon
Here’s a preview of what to expect in our next report!
AI in cancer care accredited course
Caring for the patient with non-site specific symptoms accredited course
Advanced therapy medicinal products
Inclusive cancer care accredited course
Guy's Cancer Academy aims to transform cancer care through innovative education. We create education and training on every aspect of cancer care.
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