Overview

The phased implementation of the East Midlands Breast Pain Pathway has tried to build an evidence base to support its’ widespread introduction. To achieve this, the following key questions needed to be addressed:

Are Community Breast Pain Clinics:

  • Feasible?
  • Acceptable to patients?
  • Scalable?
  • Safe?
  • Cost benefits?
  • Reproducible?                                          
  • Sustainable?

Data collection, audit and evaluation of Community Breast Pain Clinics (CBPC) outcomes has been carried out at each phase of the implementation to achieve this.

Phase 1: Mid-Nottinghamshire  

The initial pilot carried out in Mid-Nottinghamshire aimed to look at the feasibility of the pathway and gather patient feedback regarding the acceptability of this new pathway. The pilot of 177 patients demonstrated that CBPCs were both feasible and acceptable to patients.

Read more about Mid-Nottinghamshire

Phase 2: Derbyshire

The pilot carried out in Derbyshire, with a catchment population of ~ 1 million aimed to see if the pathway was scalable and gather outcome data to evaluate the safety of the EMBPP. The results for 1036 patients seen between June 2021-February 2023 have confirmed that CBPCs are feasible and acceptable to patients, and in addition they are scalable and raised no safety issues. The service has been in place for 3 years demonstrating that it is sustainable. 

Read more about Derbyshire

Phase 3: East Midlands

The pathway was implemented across the East Midlands Cancer Alliance at community sites in Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire and Nottinghamshire, a catchment population of ~ 5.5 million. It aimed to see if the EMBPP is reproducible at multiple sites, to see if it is cost effective and provide additional safety data. Data for 1935 patients seen across the East Midlands during the audit period confirmed that the pathway was reproducible at scale, and acceptable to patients. It raised no safety issues and confirmed that the EMBPP provides cost benefits.

Read more about East Midlands

Phase 4: National  

The EMBPP was implemented at 17 centres from 9 different Cancer Alliances across England. Data for 7,326 patients seen during the National Audit period replicated the findings of the East Midlands Audit. It provided additional evidence of the reproducibility, acceptability, safety and cost benefits of the EMBPP on a larger scale.

Read more about National

Implementation of the East Midlands Breast Pain Clinic Model across the East Midlands and nationally has been facilitated through a collaborative agreement between Roche Products Limited and HITS – Health Improvement Transformation Strategies C.I.C.