Chelsea and Westminster Hospital trials AI skin cancer diagnostic tool

Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is rolling out a pilot involving an AI decision support tool which aims to change the way skin cancer is assessed and treated by the NHS.

DERM uses AI algorithms to analyse specialist magnified images of skin lesions so that patients can be assessed quickly and receive life-saving treatment promptly if required.

In secondary care, DERM is used in addition to teledermatology hubs where images of skin lesions are captured to triage cases and find the most appropriate treatment pathway for each patient.

This helps to ensure that patients with high-risk skin legions are prioritised, while those with benign referrals can be discharged at the earliest opportunity, reducing anxiety for those patients, and freeing up capacity for those who need urgent treatment.

Dr Lucy Thomas, consultant dermatologist at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Like many departments, dermatology has severe backlogs due to the Covid-19 pandemic and this project will evaluate the impact this AI solution can have on relieving pressure on services, reducing delays in detection and treatment and improving outcomes for patients with skin cancer as well as those with non-urgent skin diseases.”

The DERM pilot is being funded by the Artificial Intelligence in Health and Care award, which run by the Accelerated Access Collaborative (AAC) in partnership with NHS England and NHS Improvement (NHSE/I) and the National Institute for Health Research.

The roll out also marks an expansion of the trust’s partnership with Skin Analytics, which is part of the CW Innovation programme. The programme is a joint initiative between the trust and CW+, which identifies, tests and evaluates new solutions to improve patient’s care and their experiences. Skin Analytics was part of the Digital Health.London Accelerator programme – which is CW+ is a founding partner of – which supports the adoption of digital health innovation NHS-wide.

Bruno Botelho, director of digital operations, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, added: “We are delighted to be expanding our long-standing partnership with Skin Analytics and leading the roll out of the real-world evaluation of DERM.

“The Trust has always supported innovation and digital solutions to improve the delivery of care in the population we serve, and we are very much looking forward to evaluating the innovative DERM device, assessing its impact on patient care and experience as well as our workforce.”

The roll out marks an expansion of the trust’s partnership with Skin Analytics, which is part of the CW Innovation programme. The programme is a joint initiative between the trust and CW+, which identifies, tests and evaluates new solutions to improve patient’s care and their experiences. Skin Analytics was part of the Digital Health.London Accelerator programme – which is CW+ is a founding partner of – which supports the adoption of digital health innovation NHS-wide.