The multidisciplinary team meeting is the engine room of cancer care, and it is running hot. Every week, specialists in London and elsewhere work through long lists of patients, often with minutes per case. A new project at Barts Health NHS Trust is testing whether software can take some of that strain without taking decisions away from clinicians.
AstraZeneca and Barts Health have launched an 18-month collaboration using Cancer Pathways IQ, a platform from Deontics, to support how MDTs work in the breast cancer pathway. It is the first live deployment of the technology in an operational breast cancer MDT. That word, live, matters. Plenty of digital tools perform well in pilots and demos. Fewer survive a real clinic with real time pressure.
Why MDT workload is a pressure point
MDTs are central to UK cancer care. They bring together surgeons, oncologists, radiologists, pathologists and specialist nurses to agree a plan for each patient. The model works, but demand has grown faster than capacity. More patients, more diagnostic data and more treatment options mean preparation and discussion take longer. Delays at this stage can ripple into the wait for treatment, which is exactly what NHS cancer targets are meant to prevent.
What Cancer Pathways IQ is meant to do
Deontics builds clinical decision support around pathway logic. In practice, that means the software organises patient information against agreed care pathways, so teams can see what is known, what is missing and what the guidance suggests next. The aim is more consistent discussions and less time spent hunting for data. The clinicians still decide. The tool structures the conversation.
The project is described as supporting the modernisation of MDT working. The published details are light on outcome measures, so it is fair to ask what success will look like. Sensible candidates include time spent per case, completeness of information at the meeting, time from discussion to treatment, and how clinicians rate the workflow.
The role of industry
AstraZeneca’s involvement is worth a closer look. Pharmaceutical companies increasingly fund NHS service improvement work, often framed as joint working. That can bring money and momentum to projects trusts could not otherwise resource. It also raises fair questions about transparency and independence, particularly where pathway software could influence which therapies are considered. Clear governance, and clear separation between pathway content and commercial interests, will be important for clinician trust.
What to watch
Eighteen months is long enough to see whether the tool survives the routine of weekly meetings. A few things will tell us most:
- Whether clinicians keep using it once the novelty fades
- Whether measurable time savings appear in MDT preparation and discussion
- Whether findings are published so other trusts can judge them
- Whether the approach transfers to other tumour types
Breast cancer is a sensible starting point. Its pathways are well defined and the patient volume is high. If the model works here, the case for wider adoption gets stronger. If it doesn’t, the lessons will still be useful. Either way, this is the kind of real-world test that digital oncology tools need, and it deserves attention from anyone planning to build or buy them.