A group of pharma companies with presence in oncology are working together on the next stage of their groundbreaking initiative to support the reform of NHS cancer services.

Key elements of a recently published Cancer Reform Strategy include a renewed focus on prevention, faster treatment, extended screening, fast-track drug approval and extended services for the increasing numbers of people surviving cancer.

The collaboration between pharma companies and the NHS is just one small part of the overall cancer strategy, but a significant project in terms of the industry working in tandem with the health service to improve services for patients.

No fewer than 16 pharmaceutical companies have contributed to the new collaborative project which aims to help NHS clinicians and managers reform services for patients.

The collaboration, called the Pharmaceutical Oncology Initiative Industry Group centres on a new Cancer Commissioning Tool Kit - a web-based tool to give clinicians access to relevant data sets at the local level and national level, and plan patient pathways more effectively.

The Tool Kit will include a Cancer Medicines section which, importantly for pharma, enables effective planning for the introduction of new medicines, which could help commissioners and clinicians free up resources to fund more new medicines.

Jackie Holding of pharmaceutical industry consultants Holding Associates is the group's co-ordinator and 'facilitator'. She said: "It's not about getting together and being a lobbying group to put pressure on the government. It's about getting better access to medicines."

She says the Department of Health's backing of the scheme was a key factor in its success so far: "We needed involvement from the Department of Health. It gave the project credence from the people at the top."

The group expect to issue more details on the plans in June this year, and indicate when the programme ¿ its second since its set up in 2005 - will be ready for use.

There are 16 companies in the collaboration, and further companies can only join the group once it has finished the present project. The collaboration uses a tiered funding scheme through which each company invests a figure in proportion to its sales in oncology. The group has accumulated £1 million in three years to fund its project. The companies collaborating say the initiative opens up dialogue with NHS partners, giving insight into the changing environment of the health service and the opportunity to help shape it. The project also helps to improve the industry's reputation within among NHS staff.

The group's first project was CPort, a web-based chemotherapy capacity-planning tool which is now being adopted across the UK and proving to be a success. CPort is a simulator which allows hospitals to test out different scenarios for treatment regimens and also allows them to explore ways of working than can influence the performance of a chemotherapy unit.

There are currently nine central dedicated facilitators for CPort throughout the UK, and so far there are two cancer networks fully set up. But it is not a statutory requirement for units to participate in the scheme, and uptake depends largely on regional interest and clinicians being eager to reform and innovate.

pharmafocus@wiley.co.uk