We are excited to share an innovative initiative that’s transforming patient care across Cornwall. In collaboration with the Dermatology Service at Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust (RCHT), we have supported the launch of community imaging clinics. These Community Lesion Imaging Clinics (CLIC) fast-track skin cancer diagnosis and treatment, bringing essential services closer to home and significantly reducing wait times for patients.

Impact and benefits

These clinics have prevented approximately 50% of in-person appointments, resulting in a substantial reduction in waiting times. 

The Isla platform plays a crucial role in this initiative by supporting teledermatology services. These are not only convenient but also life-saving. Particularly for those in rural areas, or those who find it challenging to visit a doctor in person. 

Many patients with potential skin cancer are elderly, frail, and geographically isolated. Additionally, A high proportion of them also work in manual or agricultural jobs. 

Referrals from GPs allow these patients to visit imaging clinics in Penzance, Newquay, Camborne, and Bodmin. Medical photographers capture and submit their images. These are then promptly reviewed by a consultant through the Isla platform, typically by the next day. This enables a much faster diagnosis of skin cancer.

Looking to the future

In the coming weeks, three additional community hubs are set to launch. Healthcare support workers on the Isles of Scilly are currently undergoing training by the Dermatology department to improve enhance services in hard-to-reach areas.

If the success continues at this rate, and the planned CLICs are rolled out across Cornwall, more patients could avoid unnecessary hospital trips each year.

The project also aims to build an innovative database of de-identified, tagged, and coded dermoscopic images. This database could train and evaluate AI algorithms and potentially combine them with other units’ outputs to establish a national database. This would in turn aid in the quicker identification of cancerous lesions.

Feedback from RCHT

Dr. Sandy Anderson, Consultant Dermatologist at RCHT, sheds light on the urgency of this innovation:

“We can get 150-200 referrals a week, but we know that 50% of those can be sent back to their GP. These community-based clinics are virtually filtering for cancer, speeding up the process, reducing waiting lists, and allowing patients to get a faster diagnosis without having to travel for a specialist appointment. We’ve received really positive feedback from patients so far and hope to expand the offering to further community hospitals in the county.”

“We’ve seen an epidemic of skin cancer in the last few years, the melanoma diagnosis rate in Cornwall is almost three-quarters of the rate in Australia! We’re also seeing a shortage of dermatologists in the UK so innovating the way work is done is inevitable.”

“The feedback from patients has been overwhelmingly positive, reinforcing our commitment to expand these services to more community hospitals throughout Cornwall. This initiative is just the beginning, as we’re also exploring the potential of AI to further enhance skin cancer diagnosis.”

Insights from Isla

From the co-founders of Isla Health, Peter Hansell (CEO) and James Jurkiewicz (CTO):

“Isla exists to bring scalability to health services. Working with pioneering NHS Trusts and implementing new ways of working is exactly how we achieve that. The Teledermatology service in Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust (RCHT) has delivered an amazing impact on patients already. We are super excited to extend our partnership, delivering novel remote services with RCHT and across the county, speeding up cancer diagnosis.”

At Isla Health, we are more than just a technology platform. We are partners in pioneering a future where healthcare is accessible, efficient, and tailored to meet the needs of every community.

It is exciting to work with proactive Trusts like Royal Cornwall, which are reshaping healthcare to better meet patient needs.

Additional reading

• HTN write-up about this partnership
• RCHT’s blog about the impact of the Isla platform across Cornwall

If you’d like to learn more, please get in touch using the form below.