£1.5 million of funding in 2024-25 is supporting 12 projecting to provide direct and personalised support to patients with cancer.

The Single Point of Contact (SPoC) pilots support patients with ongoing contact.

The NHS Lothian SPoC uses a centralised digital hub delivering telephone communication and support to patients with a range of cancer types. As a result, around 40 per cent of calls are diverted away from Clinical Nurse Specialist workload, which has led to improvements in the quality of their telephone contacts.

On a visit to Edinburgh Cancer Centre, first minister John Swinney said: “We are fully focused on improving cancer survival, and delivering excellent and accessible care is at the core of how we do that. The Single Point of Contact Service meets requirements identified by Boards to deliver improvements in communication and support for patients with navigating cancer care.

“By taking in the region of 2,000 calls per month and providing person-centred support to those patients throughout their care journey, the Edinburgh Single Point of Contact project provides consistent access for patients to have conversations about their care, freeing up capacity for specialist staff to focus on the most complex cases.”

Katie Gibson, Neuroendocrine Tumour Clinical Nurse Specialist at the Edinburgh Cancer Centre, said:

"I've seen first-hand how the SPoC service has transformed our ability to care for cancer patients. The centralised system streamlines communication and allows us to spend more quality time with those who need it most. As a result, patients are aware of who to contact for the support and advice they require from diagnosis , treatment and beyond."