The strategic partnership will pioneer innovative new ways of supporting people living with cancer and healthcare professionals.
Careology and Macmillan Cancer Support, the leading UK cancer charity, are entering into a strategic partnership to build nursing capacity and offer best in class digital support to the 3 million people living with cancer in the UK.Digital cancer care is playing an increasingly critical role in better supporting people during and after their treatment. The award-winning Careology technology is designed to help patients feel safe and well-equipped to manage their cancer treatment. The platform supports and connects patients with their friends, family and healthcare teams, enabling remote care that can help transform the way people live with cancer. Patients can also monitor and share key health metrics such as symptoms, side effects and medication adherence. Access to real-time information enables healthcare providers and services to deliver an efficient and scalable model of care, and has the potential to reduce pressure on the NHS where this results in lowering avoidable admissions and complications.
Through this partnership, Careology and Macmillan will unveil a range of ground-breaking digital initiatives to better support people living with cancer, their caregivers and their healthcare teams. The partnership also marks an important strategic milestone in achieving the ambitions of both organisations, particularly as the coronavirus pandemic continues to have a devastating impact on cancer services across the UK.
A recent report by the National Audit Office estimates that up to 740,000 people in England with potential symptoms of cancer who should have been urgently referred by GPs since the first lockdown may have been “missed”. According to recent research by Macmillan, the shortage in specialist cancer nurses paired with excessive workload pressures, is also having a significant impact on the care patients receive. Among people recently diagnosed in the UK who did not receive enough support from a specialist cancer nurse during their diagnosis or treatment, almost half (44%), said this led to at least one of the following medical impacts:
- Being unsure about what side effects of treatment they should be looking out for
- Being unsure if they were taking their medication correctly
- Ending up in A&E
Paul Landau, Careology Founder and CEO, comments:
“We are incredibly proud of our strategic partnership with Macmillan. This is an extremely challenging time for cancer services and all those impacted. Macmillan shares our belief that providing personalised, accessible, patient-centred digital support is paramount to improving the lives and health outcomes of people living and dealing with cancer. As we continue to innovate and lead the way in digital cancer care, it is key to collaborate with world-class partners who share our mission for transforming traditional cancer care with connected digital solutions. Careology’s here to help make the down days more manageable and the up days come more often”.
Jamie Kichenbrand, Head of Innovation Commercial Partnerships at Macmillan Cancer Support, says:
“We are delighted to be entering into a strategic partnership with Careology to pioneer innovative new ways of supporting people living with cancer and healthcare professionals. Digital cancer care can provide patients with easier access to greater support and personalised care, and could help to alleviate some of the significant challenges caused by ongoing workforce pressures across the NHS. We estimate that the number of people living with cancer in the UK is set to rise to 4 million by 2030 and this partnership will help us to reach and support even more people when they need it most.”
------
About Careology
Careology is an award winning health tech platform that helps people living and dealing with cancer to navigate their treatment, using mobile technology to connect them with their clinicians, caregivers and family. It also allows healthcare professionals and supporting services to monitor their patients in real-time, making early interventions more likely and saving lives in the process.
Careology connects to wearable devices, such as smartwatches allowing it to easily track changes in the person’s physical condition in real-time. It also helps them to journal their thoughts and feelings, track side effects, medication and appointments. For clinicians, Careology takes information from their patients and presents it in a ‘virtual ward’, providing a rich, holistic overview of all those in their care.
About Macmillan Cancer Support
At Macmillan, we give people with cancer everything we’ve got. If you’re diagnosed, your worries are our worries. We will move mountains to help you live life as fully as you can. And we don’t stop there.
We’re going all out to find ever better ways to help people with cancer, helping to bring forward the day when everyone gets life-transforming support from day one.
For information, support or just someone to talk to, call 0808 808 00 00 or visit macmillan.org.uk. To give, fundraise or volunteer call 0300 1000 200 or visit macmillan.org.uk.
