C the Signs – Clinical decision support tool

C the Signs is an integrated clinical decision support tool that helps healthcare professionals find cancer at an earlier stage, when survival rates are highest.

The system uses the latest evidence to help detect cancer – evaluating tens of thousands of peer-reviewed publications, and only uses data points which have been academically validated.

C the Signs analyses data in the patient’s electronic medical record to support GPs with risk-assessing patients. It checks combinations of signs, symptoms, risk factors, clinical markers and other key data points, to then suggest an appropriate diagnostic pathway and support GPs to make suspected cancer referrals.

Health Innovation East’s support

Health Innovation East supported the implementation of C the Signs across 35 GP practices in Ipswich and East Suffolk.

Across these practices, there were 303 registered users in February 2023, with 60% of users in clinical roles and 40% in administrative roles. Health Innovation East provided funding and project management support for an independent real-world evaluation of the innovation, led by Anglia Ruskin University.

The evaluation found that staff rate the tool as highly effective, easy to use. It is also supportive of clinical decisions -particularly through prompts and suggestions to help them consider lesser-known cancers. The evaluation also highlighted areas for improvement to enable wider adoption and spread of C the Signs, such as an enhancing and extending the onboarding process for staff and implementing peer support between high and low users of the tool.