South East London Cancer Alliance (SELCA) is one of 21 Cancer Alliances in England.
We work in a collaborative model to deliver high quality cancer services across community, primary, and secondary care in south east London. Our aim is to ensure that patients receive timely diagnosis, high quality treatment, excellent experience, and improved clinical and quality of life outcomes.
Cancer Alliances bring together a range of local organisations – including NHS bodies, local government, charities, and patient groups – with shared goals of:
- Fewer people getting cancer;
- More people surviving cancer;
- More people having positive experience in their treatment and care;
- Ensuring everyone receives the same high quality services, no matter who they are or where they live;
- More people being supported to live as well as possible after their treatment is over.
Underlying all our objectives are the principles of improving patient experience and reducing health inequalities.
SELCA provides clinical and operational leadership for our local cancer system.
We work across primary care networks, the Integrated Care System, and the three acute south east London Hospital Trusts – Guy's and St Thomas’, King’s College Hospital, and Lewisham and Greenwich – to ensure patients get access to the best possible and joined-up care either in hospital or closer to home.
We have a small central team hosted by Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust. We cover the London boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Greenwich, Lambeth, Lewisham, and Southwark.
We have a number of key focus areas to deliver improvements in how cancers are diagnosed, treated and how care is provided in our local communities. These include:
- Early Diagnosis and Screening;
- Sector Tumour and Cross-cutting groups;
- Rapid Diagnostic Centres;
- Personalised cancer care;
- Patient involvement and experience;
- Operational performance recovery.
We also have a number of cross cutting areas including tackling health inequalities, engaging and training our local workforce, and to widen our communications to patients and professionals, and we work with partners on cancer prevention.
Cancer Alliances were established by NHS England in 2017/18, after a recommendation from the Independent Cancer Taskforce to drive and support integration in cancer services. The NHS Long Term Plan recently reiterated the role of Cancer Alliances in leading system improvement in cancer services.
We are accountable to the Integrated Care System (ICS) for providing clinical and operational leadership for the delivery of system-wide strategic plans across the local cancer system. Every partner within that alliance – including commissioners, acute trusts, and primary and community providers – has a responsibility to contribute to effective system-level working.
SELCA has an overarching board which meets bi-monthly to oversee our programmes. The Board is attended by a range of members including commissioners, providers, primary care, patients, third sector partners, and other stakeholders. Together they help shape, deliver and oversee a programme of interventions to improve cancer detection, diagnosis, treatment and care, and improved access, outcomes and patient experience in line with the National Cancer Programme and the NHS Long Term Plan.