Partnership project between the pharmaceutical industry and the NHS recognised as an example of a “global top 100” IT organisation.

The IT system called C-PORT (Chemotherapy Planning Oncology Resource Tool) was developed by the Pharmaceutical Oncology Initiative Partnership (POIP), a joint venture between 12 member companies of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI), the Cancer Action Team and the Cancer Services Collaborative Improvement Partnership. The system was developed to help tackle the problem that the uptake of new cancer medicines varies widely across the UK – so called “postcode prescribing”.

The system itself is a “capacity simulator”, a sophisticated modelling tool which uses statistical methods to predict how chemotherapy units will perform under different conditions. It allows chemotherapy units to plan for the uptake of new cancer medicines and redesign the way they deliver chemotherapy to improve efficiency and patient experience.

Over 80 front line staff were consulted during the design and test programme and it is currently being rolled out across the NHS with overwhelming support from the doctors, nurses, pharmacists and managers who will use it. Professor Mike Richards, the National Cancer Director said: “I strongly recommend that Cancer Networks and their stakeholders use this tool to improve forward planning for cancer drugs.”

The tool was designed for the POIP by A.T. Kearney, a management consultancy, and built by Concentra, a UK IT provider, and ITransition, an offshore developer. Said Jonathan Anscombe, head of the A.T. Kearney health practice: “It proved to be a really complicated problem, so C-PORT pushes the boundaries of this type of simulation tool.”

“The success of the project also shows how the pharmaceutical industry can collaborate effectively with the NHS for the benefit of patients. Such collaborations have an important role to play in helping to improve health delivery,” said Dr Richard Barker, Director General of the ABPI.

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CIO Magazine is one of the leading magazines for IT professionals. Every year, the CIO 100 Awards honour 100 companies that demonstrate excellence and achievement in IT. The process for choosing the CIO 100 honorees is systematic and very competitive. The prize is for companies that are using IT in innovative ways to deliver competitive advantage to the enterprise and enable growth. www.cio.com

Pharmaceutical Oncology Initiative Partnership (POIP) was set up in 2005 to identify opportunities to collaborate on projects to benefit cancer patients by improving uptake and access to cancer medicines. The partners include the Cancer Action Team, NHS Cancer Services Collaborative “Improvement Partnership” and the Pharmaceutical Oncology Initiative (POI), a group of pharmaceutical companies who research, develop and supply innovative cancer medicines. The 12 companies which have supported C-PORT are all members of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI); Amgen, AstraZeneca , Lilly, Merck Serono, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, Ortho Biotech, Pfizer, Roche, Sanofi-Aventis, Schering-Plough and Wyeth. Contact jh&a@holdingassociates.co.uk

A.T. Kearney is a global management consultancy providing strategy and operations consulting to leading companies in many industries, including healthcare. Contact Jonathan.anscombe@atkearney.com

Concentra is a Microsoft Gold Partner with a proven track record in developing, implementing and supporting technology solutions to help clients get the most from their IT investment. www.concentra.co.uk

Itransition is an international software development company featured in Global Outsourcing 100 edition with development centers in Eastern Europe. With the pool of more than 450 software developers in staff Itransition specializes in enterprise level application development for medium size and big business. www.itransition.com