Hi, I’m Helen Ryan, Programme Manager for Innovation and New Models of Care, West Yorkshire and Harrogate Cancer Alliance. My role is to lead and deliver the Alliance wide Innovations portfolio, translating national, regional and local priorities into impactful, system-wide innovation activity. This includes driving adoption, spread and scale of evidence-based innovations, enhancing early diagnosis, improving patient outcomes, supporting clinical trials access, enabling digital and AI led transformation, and fostering inclusive innovation across providers, Places, PCNs and VCSE partners. As a Cancer Alliance, we act with honesty, courage, and kindness to ensure joined-up, collaborative and creative approaches to solving system challenges.
Innovation is often associated with new technologies, artificial intelligence and breakthrough discoveries. While these are undoubtedly important, our experience at the West Yorkshire and Harrogate Cancer Alliance continues to demonstrate that innovation is fundamentally about people, partnerships and a shared commitment to improving outcomes for patients.
Over the past year, our Innovation and New Models of Care programme has grown significantly, supporting projects across primary care, hospitals, the voluntary and community sector, academia and industry. What is most encouraging is not simply the number of initiatives underway, but the breadth of collaboration that sits behind them.
Celebrating innovation through collaboration
A particular highlight this year was our first Innovation Through Collaboration Conference, held in June and supported by more than 300 colleagues from across our region. The event brought together clinicians, managers, patient representatives, innovators, charities and system leaders with a common purpose: improving cancer care for the people we serve.
Throughout the day, one theme consistently emerged, despite discussions about technology, transformation and service redesign, the focus always returned to the patient. Conversations centred on how we improve quality, experience and outcomes while ensuring care remains compassionate, accessible and equitable.
The conference also provided an opportunity to celebrate achievements through our Innovation Awards and to showcase examples of excellent practice from across West Yorkshire and Harrogate. From community-based cancer awareness programmes to AI-enabled diagnostic pathways, the range of initiatives highlighted the creativity and commitment that exists throughout our system.
Several presenters highlighted the power of partnership working across acute, primary, community and voluntary sectors. Whether supporting children to receive chemotherapy closer to home, advanced MRI and AI-enabled radiotherapy research, large-scale workforce development programmes for Clinical Nurse Specialists, developing culturally tailored interventions to improve breast screening uptake, or creating community-led campaigns to increase HPV vaccination rates, success was driven by listening to patients and co-designing solutions with the communities being served.
These initiatives demonstrated that innovation is not simply about technology, but about creating sustainable systems, developing people and building capability across organisations.
The Dementia and Cancer Together project demonstrated how healthcare organisations, charities and academia can work together to improve outcomes for people living with both cancer and dementia. By co-designing education, creating new referral pathways and introducing a Dementia Key Worker role, the partnership improved support for patients, carers and staff while reducing inequalities in care.
Inclusion North showed the value of co-production in developing cancer awareness resources for autistic people and people with learning disabilities. By involving people from the start, creating safe spaces for discussion and designing resources together, the project produced practical tools that are accessible, trusted and relevant to the communities they serve
Innovation in action
Through last year’s Innovation Award Scheme, we are also supporting twenty projects across Trusts, Places and voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations.
Several projects illustrate the diversity of innovation taking place. In Bradford and Calderdale and Huddersfield, organisations are evaluating the use of AI-enabled skin cancer assessment through Skin Analytics' DERM platform. The ambition is to improve access, reduce unnecessary face-to-face appointments, release clinical capacity and maintain diagnostic safety.
Across Leeds and Wakefield, community pharmacists are being empowered as early detection champions for bladder cancer, helping to identify red flag symptoms and encourage earlier diagnosis.
Meanwhile, Wakefield Trinity Community Trust is using the influence of professional rugby to engage communities through the "Tackling Cancer" initiative, delivering prevention and awareness messages to rugby league supporters who may not traditionally engage with health services.
Alongside these initiatives, our VCSE partners are leading a range of innovative programmes focused on underserved communities, increasing awareness of cancer symptoms, encouraging screening participation and addressing health inequalities.
Embracing the potential of digital innovation
Digital innovation represents one of the most exciting opportunities available to us. We are currently supporting several nationally funded projects that explore the potential of technology to transform cancer pathways.
One example is our work with Lucida Medical and Leeds using AI-assisted prostate MRI analysis to improve early detection and diagnostic efficiency. the project remains a significant opportunity to evaluate how AI can support clinicians and improve patient pathways.
Another encouraging example comes from the Appt Health study, using behavioural science to support cervical and lung cancer screening uptake among patients who have not responded to previous invitations. Across twelve practices in West Yorkshire and Harrogate, the programme has already generated hundreds of additional screening bookings, demonstrating how digital engagement tools can help improve participation in vital prevention programmes.
Building on the above, I am can also share that the nationally supported Lung Cancer Screening Programme (LCSP) went live in Wakefield in May, with projects also due to launch in Leeds and Harrogate. Conexus Healthcare and Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust are working in partnership to deliver a collaborative LCSP pathway that is accessible and responsive to the needs of the population and have delivered some fantastic early results, exceeding trajectories. Invitations to eligible participants across the population have begun, lung health check assessments are being completed and for those who have been identified as high risk of developing lung cancer are being referred on for a LDCT scan.
These projects also continue to reinforce that successful innovation is not simply about introducing technology. It is about ensuring technology delivers measurable value for patients, staff, and services by optimising collaboration in practice across all partners involved in delivery.
Looking ahead to 2026/27
As we prepare for the next phase of our programme, our priorities are becoming increasingly clear. I am excited about the launch of the 2026/27 Innovation Award Scheme and the opportunity to support projects that aim to transform patient care across the system. Areas of focus this year include digital transformation, improving patient experience, reducing inequalities, enhancing psychosocial support for families, developing innovative approaches to quality-of-life measurement, exploring the use of genomics and novel diagnostics and case finding for rarer cancers.
Alongside this, we will develop a new three-year Innovation Strategy for West Yorkshire and Harrogate. The strategy will provide a clear framework for identifying, supporting and scaling innovations that have the greatest potential impact. It will strengthen alignment between partners and ensure that investment is directed towards areas where it can make the biggest difference.
A key component of this work will be our new digital programme. Rather than pursuing isolated digital projects, we will focus on a small number of scalable cancer pathway use cases, including patient-facing digital pathways, remote monitoring, personalised follow-up, AI-enabled pathway evaluation and digital inclusion.
Innovation with purpose
As leaders, we have a responsibility to embrace innovation while remaining grounded in the realities of delivering healthcare. We know there are challenges ahead, including information governance requirements, integration complexities, varying levels of digital maturity and the ongoing risk of digital exclusion.
However, the opportunities are substantial. What gives me confidence is not simply the technology available to us, but the strength of collaboration across our cancer system. Whether through our clinicians, operational teams, community organisations, patients, researchers or partners, we have a collective determination to find better ways of delivering care. Innovation is not an end in itself. It is a means to achieve earlier diagnosis, better experiences, improved outcomes and more equitable care for every person affected by cancer.
The progress we have seen this year demonstrates what is possible when we bring people together around a shared purpose.
I look forward to building on that momentum as we continue our journey into 2026/27 and beyond.
Have a good weekend,
Helen
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