New improved MySunrise Version now live.

We are thrilled to announce the launch of the new updated version 3.0 of the MySunrise Cancer Companion App. Originally launched in 2018 as a pilot at Royal Cornwall Hospital, MySunrise was rolled out to five cancer centres across Devon and Cornwall in September 2020 with support from the Peninsula Cancer Alliance. Since then we’ve seen over 3000 downloads by Cancer Patients and their families helping to support them every step of the way through their cancer treatment at their NHS cancer centre.

Right the way through these unprecedented times of COVID, MySunrise has provided up-to-date information for cancer patients about service changes at their Cancer Centre, enabling them to get in touch at the right time and even supporting easy access to video consultations.

Over the last 2 years we’ve learnt such a lot from speaking to staff and patients and through our patient survey which has now had over 550 responses from cancer patients undergoing treatment. Some key themes have emerged and these have been integral to understanding how we can improve our resource and have steered the new developments and design of our new version...

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1. Requests for more up-to-date information about cancer services and information specific to cancer type were common.Quite understandably this has been a common theme through COVID as patients struggle with the uncertainty of their diagnosis. Our new version continues to enable cancer teams to update their version of the app within the Cancer Centre section and cancer specific pathways for Breast, Colorectal, Endometrial, Lung, Head and Neck and Prostate cancer are soon to follow in the next few months.
2. Attitudes to using digital resources are changing with some patients now preferring video consultations and requesting more virtual support.☀️ Our new version now supports a whole portfolio of digital tools -linking the patient directly to their Cancer Centre video consultation provider and now supporting virtual pre-assessment pathways for immunotherapy and chemotherapy as well as linking to econsent and virtual prehab resources. This continues to enable this vulnerable patient group to be supported outside of hospital where ever possible.
3. More support with mental health for cancer patients has been a key theme in our survey with nearly a quarter of patients who completed our survey reporting anxiety and distress and not knowing where to turn through their treatment.☀️New resources and tailored symptom support along with our new wellness tracker (due winter 2022) will help to identify patients struggling and point them to the right local and national resources to get help in the first instance without needing to speak to their team or GP.
4. A new diagnosis of cancer can leave patients feeling scared and out of control as they try to understand and navigate their treatment and side effects.

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This can be a real challenge and with so much information available how can we help patients to digest and understand the right key points at the right time. Our new treatment pathway has been a huge focus for our team and is designed exactly to support this problem. Cancer treatment becomes more complex every year and the structure of our pathway helps by breaking down the information needed into 12 steps through 4 key stages – diagnosis, preparing for treatment, treatment and support after treatment. Collating key information into these stages of the pathway we hope will help them to quickly get the information they need and in turn better inform patients and help to reduce some of their worries and anxiety.

All this in a new design and with updated resources make up the new MySunrise Cancer Companion. Download or update and let us know what you think.

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