Summary
MySunrise is a free mobile app providing information and support to cancer patients and their families at their NHS hospital.
The app offers help with symptom support, access to video consults, rapid access to oncology teams, treatments, support groups and more, all designed with a focus on helping to improve treatment outcomes for cancer patients.
What the project involved
Originally developed by the oncology team at the Royal Cornwall Hospital, before being rolled out across all five cancer centres in the South West in 2020, MySunrise is currently being offered free at the start of treatment to all patients undergoing cancer treatment in the South West Peninsula.
The South West AHSN has been supporting the MySunrise team to create design improvements, evidencing values, increasing patient engagement, and making the content more accessible across its communities.
In October 2021, colleagues from MySunrise also attended the South West AHSN’s Spread Academy, which was designed to support teams who have developed technological innovations that solve problems in community, health and care settings.
Outcomes
With the support of the South West AHSN, the MySunrise cancer app has had a number of benefits for patients and clinicians, as well as having economic advantages. These include:
Patient impact:
- Over 3000 downloads from cancer patients and their families since 2020.
- 94% of users found it easy to use
- 92% would recommend the app
- 75% of patients reported reassurance or confidence from the app
- 100% of patients surveyed, who used the pre-assessment pathway on the app, were satisfied and felt well-prepared for receiving their treatment.
Clinical impact:
- 3-5 minutes saved, per cancer specialist, per appointment
- Reduction in overall number of hospital and GP visits due to patients finding information needed or completing video consultation through the app
- Reduction in repeat radiotherapy scans due to better informed and better prepared patients
- The introduction of a virtual pre-assessment pathway led to a reduction in nursing time of 2-hours per clinic, releasing nurses to support SACT outpatients.
Economic impact:
- £156,000 potential annual benefits, per NHS Trust, per 1,000 patients.
- Fewer appointments – reducing at least 1 appointment, per patient, per year leads to £80,000 efficiency improvements.
- More virtual appointments – moving 1 traditional appointment to video consultation, per patient, per year leads to £50,000 efficiency improvements.
- £3,000 – potential annual savings in printing and storing paper leaflets.
Next steps
Following on from their successes in the South West, the team are now starting to work across new sites – including the West Midlands Cancer Alliance.
In September 2022, the MySunrise team launch a new version of their free cancer support app, which is available to download from all app stores. They have also recently had three abstracts accepted at the 2022 UK Oncology Nursing Society Conference, as well as a stand at the conference where they will be showcasing the new features and talking to cancer teams from around the UK.
The South West AHSN continue to support MySunrise, supporting the team to host ‘MySunrise Day’ at our offices in Vantage Point, Exeter in September 2022.
