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New National Approach Will Help Streamline Innovation Adoption meaning People in Wales Benefit from Cancer Innovations Earlier
A new national process is being developed to help people with cancer in Wales benefit sooner from proven, high‑quality innovations. The NHS Wales Joint Commissioning Committee (NWJCC), working with Life Sciences Hub Wales as part of the Welsh Government Tackling Cancer Initiative, are piloting a national pathway to identify cancer treatments, technologies and approaches which should be prioritised for adoption across Wales.
Currently, the cancer innovation adoption process across NHS Wales can take several years, with individual organisations often reviewing the same proposals separately and without a unified route for adoption. This can lead to delays caused by unclear processes and variation between organisations.
This new pilot pathway is designed to change that. By creating one process for all of NHS Wales to identify which of the many emerging cancer innovations will have the greatest impact. NWJCC is leading this work due to its extensive experience in prioritising interventions across different disciplines, ensuring decisions are evidence‑based and consistent.
By introducing one clear national process, the NHS in Wales will be able to identify, prioritise and support the innovations that offer the most value and ensure these reach patients more quickly, more systematically, and more fairly across the country. The pathway will also strengthen the mechanisms required for adoption and implementation within services, helping ensure the right innovations can be efficiently introduced so clinicians receive what they need as soon as possible.
Iolo Doull, Medical Director at NWJCC, said: “People affected by cancer deserve timely access to the very best ideas and innovations that are available wherever they live in Wales.
“The aim of this work is to ensure people affected by cancer gain earlier access to the innovations that will have the greatest impact on their care, whether that’s new tests, equipment, ways of delivering treatment, or improvements to patient experience.
“This new process will help us understand how we can best identify which innovations can make the biggest difference to patients, and ensure those are supported to reach the system sooner.”
The pathway is funded by Welsh Governments as part of the Making It Happen programme and being developed in partnership with organisations including Life Sciences Hub Wales, the Wales Cancer Network, Contracts for Innovation, Health Technology Wales and patient representatives. This collaboration ensures innovations are assessed transparently with input from clinicians, experts and people with lived experience.
The process is currently being tested and if successful will create a prioritisation process that can be utilised across organisations in Wales.
The first national prioritisation panel is expected to take place in March 2026, marking an important step toward a more coordinated approach to introducing new cancer innovations across Wales.