Endoscope-i
Endoscope-i has developed a way to bring specialist endoscopic cancer screening out of hospital settings and into primary care – using an iPhone-based adapter and app that lets community clinicians capture HD images and refer patients for expert review remotely. Cloud Gateway is providing the secure HSCN connectivity that connects this solution to NHS trust systems, supporting endoscope-i as they pilot the Telescopic referral pathway across NHS settings.
Taking ENT cancer screening into primary care.
A pilot with endoscope-i and NHS Rapid Diagnostic Centres.
of patients discharged and reassured at first appointment.
The challenge
Head and neck cancers affect over 12,000 people in the UK every year, with early diagnosis critical to survival outcomes. The traditional endoscopic pathway requires expensive equipment and a hospital setting – creating bottlenecks, extending waiting times, and limiting access for patients outside major centres.
What we did
We securely connected endoscope-i’s AWS-hosted platform to the HSCN, enabling the secure transfer of patient data into trust records and supporting integration with NHS Rapid Diagnostic Centres. That connection supports the core aims of the Telescopic pathway: reducing the need for hospital-based endoscopy for initial assessment, enabling primary care clinicians to refer directly for remote expert review, and helping endoscope-i meet the 28-day Faster Diagnostic Standard for head and neck cancer.
Early results and deployment
The Telescopic referral pathway is now active across multiple NHS trusts, including University Hospitals of North Midlands, University Hospitals Birmingham, and Portsmouth University Hospitals, with a planned rollout across the West Midlands Cancer Alliance – and is producing measurable early results:
- 660+ patients assessed on the low-risk telescopic pathway across evaluated sites to date
- Average time to diagnosis of 28.6 days for low-risk patients – within the 28-day Faster Diagnostic Standard
- 0% of head and neck cancers missed by telescopic reporting over four years of implementation
- 1% cancer pickup rate in the low-risk group – patients who would otherwise have been discharged or delayed
- 84% of patients discharged and reassured at first appointment
- Consultant resource at University Hospitals of North Midlands reduced from 10 to 3 to manage the urgent suspected cancer referral service
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