TeleDermatology Skin Cancer Triaging Service

North of England Commissioning Support (NECS) is a commissioning support service working for and on behalf of NHS North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board (NENC ICB, the Relevant Authority), who are looking to pilot a solution that would enable to effectively and efficiently facilitate a TeleDermatology Skin Cancer Triaging Service.

TeleDermatology Triaging works by enabling clinical staff to remotely assess images of patients' skin lesions. After digital assessment, patients can be moved to the relevant next step along the pathway or discharged after confirming it is not a cancer. TeleDerm triaging enables a more rapid assessment of patients than possible in face-to-face triage assessment clinics.

This process is to support a pilot of TeleDermatology Services, enabling the evaluation of different TeleDermatology models. The outcomes of these pilots will inform the development of recommendations to NENC Integrated Care System and particularly NENC ICB for a sustainable commissioning model for the provision of skin cancer triage and referral pathways across the NENC region.

Data and local knowledge will be used from existing services and new pilot studies, to determine barriers to the effective use of TeleDermatology, in primary and secondary care, in particular. This information will be used to inform the project and final commissioning recommendation(s).