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Get in touchThe power of Robotic Process Automation in cancer care: a market review
Background
In October 2023, according to NHS England, the 62-day backlog fell from its peak of over 34,000 patients to around 21,000. However, despite this progress, a large backlog remains with patients awaiting cancer diagnosis and treatment.
It is crucial to improve operational performance at every step of the cancer pathway to enable cancer alliances to reach the 62-day referral to treatment standard and the NHS Long Term Plan ambition, for 75 per cent of patients to receive a diagnosis within 28 days. Optimising the capacity of cancer pathways through digital solutions is an essential step to addressing this challenge.
Robotic Process Automation (RPA) solutions are rapidly being adopted across NHS trusts to improve efficiencies and reduce the repetitive workload. Many RPA tools demonstrate capabilities to enhance key processes within the cancer pathway. These solutions and processes can result in risk stratification, patient prioritisation, automated patient booking, efficient communication processes and in doing so, significantly alleviating workforce pressure.
Context and aims
South East London Cancer Alliance (SELCA) sought to understand the market of available RPA solutions and understand learnings from Cancer Alliances that have automated parts of their pathway.
- A market review conducted between March - May 2024 identified four RPA and two AI solutions with the potential to support secondary care automation, data and caseload management.
- The market review highlighted case studies of cancer alliance trusts adopting RPA tools to optimise processes within the cancer pathway.
- The six solutions identified had common but also unique capabilities between them such as; surgical scheduling and resource management, natural language processing and the use of data, automation in patient communication and workplace administration, patient triage and enhancing operational system efficiency.
Market review approach
Co-development of inclusion criteria
to define the market review
Desktop research and horizon scan
to shortlist RPA solutions
Stakeholder interviews with 3 RPA adopter sites
to understand lessons learned and challenges with implementation
Stakeholder interviews with SEL trust
to understand problem area, define needs and process mapping
Interview with identified RPA supplier
to understand capabilities and benefits of technology
Technology
Automation capabilities have progressed along their spectrum and can now be clustered into three groups.
Robotic Process Automation
RPA ‘bots’ are programmed to perform manual repetitive tasks. No mind of their own, but only ‘do as they are told/programmed’ i.e. copy and paste, automate repetitive tasks.
Intelligent Automation (IA)
IA refers to the integration of robotic and intelligent systems from various emerging technologies, thereby increasing the scope of automation beyond simple rule-based tasks.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
AI can make logical decisions and problem solve based on information and patterns they have learnt from data. AI can use speech recognition, visual perception to response to prompts within a computer system.
Benefits of RPA
Implementing RPA, a technical solution, in NHS trust sites offers numerous advantages. The key benefits of RPA include:
- Increasing operational efficiency in terms of productivity
- Eliminating human error using RPA bots
- Reducing operational costs overtime
- Improving patient experience
- Enhancing staff satisfaction
How is RPA improving cancer processes?
Cancer Referrals
With the rising number of referrals and increased workforce pressures, tackling the referral process and the movement of data from e-referral Service (eRS) to the Patient Administration System (PAS) is seen as a priority.
Manually uploading high volumes of patient data creates an opportunity for human error, resulting in some referrals being missed or delayed, therefore cancer patients being seen later for their first appointment. Automating this process will alleviate pressure on the team to manage the high levels of referrals received daily and focus time saved be spent on urgent priorities.
Other processes that RPA can support:
- Cancer appointment tracking
- Uploading of two weeks wait (2ww) referral data from the Summary Care Record (SCR) to PAS
- Call and recall
- Screening reminders
- Symptom tracking
Market analysis
The below findings are based on desktop review into RPA and AI solutions supporting process automation, data management system efficiency in the NHS.
Summary of recommendations for NHS trust sites keen on adopting automation:
With growing demand for RPA and IA, it is essential for NHS trusts sites to choose the right automation solutions that align with their specific purpose and objectives. To achieve this, healthcare providers should:
- Identify processes that are well-defined and reliable
- Consider the interoperability and maturity of the automation solutions
- Review the evidence, including case studies or pilot contracts
- Assess the capabilities of the solutions in delivering transformative results
Additionally, it is recommended to arrange product demonstrations with suppliers and operational or clinical colleagues at adopter sites to gain practical insights into the products.
