Organisation/institution: Swansea Centre of Health Economics (SCHE) at Swansea University and Velindre NHS Trust
Key contact: Rebecca Summers, SCHE, Swansea University
What was the question that we could help with?
To develop a PhD project with Velindre NHS Trust to support the creation of a value-based framework to evaluate innovations in patient activation and education, centred around the development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies. The project seeks to develop a value-based set of criteria that incorporates patient- and citizen-centred values into evaluation. This work supports Velindre Cancer Care’s mission to ‘deliver best quality patient care, world class education and research’ aimed to understand, describe and measure the concept of ‘value’ in cancer care, capturing patient and public perspectives.

What did we do?
Collaborating with Phillip Webb, Director of Strategic Planning, and Professor Peter Barrett-Lee, then clinical director at Velindre NHS Trust, an application was made and awarded from the KESS II programme which enables Universities to work with companies to deliver collaborative research projects and higher skills training. Rebecca Summers, a qualified nurse recently returned to Wales after completing a Masters at Oxford Brookes University, wishing to develop a career in qualitative health economics and health services research, was recruited to the project.
What is the expected impact?
The PhD has just entered its second year, with several presentations given to Velindre Cancer Centre committees including its patient and public panel. Rebecca’s work was selected for presentation at the KESS II PhD conference in Hungary in Spring 2019, and presented at the Welsh Health Economists’ Group (WHEG) meeting in October 2019. Outputs are in preparation for the early phase work describing value-based care from the perspective of senior opinion leaders and health care professionals.

“I am currently building an evaluation framework for the cancer care setting based upon the values of a broad range of health care stakeholders. After navigating the planning stages of the project, it is rewarding to be working with participants in an effort to shape their health care service. Discussions around health care and health care delivery are now more crucial than ever, making this project very timely as an arena for patients, carers and the public to make their voices heard and collaborate on shaping a future health care service that is valued by all” Rebecca Summers, PhD student.