NHS Central and South Genomics

Genomic medicine is helping us better understand the genetic causes of conditions, creating more opportunities for clinical research, improved diagnoses, and new treatments. If someone is receiving care as part of a cancer pathway, diagnostic genomic testing enables us to look for genetic changes that increase the risk of certain cancers. This helps with their diagnosis and treatment plan. By making this type of testing part of routine care, we can reduce waiting times, lower costs, and improve the patient experience. This is most effective when pre-test discussions and consent are carried out by the team caring for the patient, rather than by a specialist. This approach is known as 'mainstreaming'. For this to succeed, it is important to equip NHS staff with the training and tools they need to offer diagnostic genomic testing as part of routine care. We are delighted to share the links for the first two tumour sites in a portfolio of mainstreaming competencies for nurses and allied health professionals. These competencies have been developed in collaboration with colleagues from all seven regions of the NHS England Genomic Medicine Service and peer-reviewed by education leads and colleagues from the Genomics Education Programme, with support from higher education institutions. This reflects a national, multi-agency approach. Siobhan John, Genomics Practitioner (Nursing), and Miles Tracie, Associate Director of Nursing and Midwifery for the South West Genomic Medicine Service, are leading this initiative in collaboration with the Royal College of Nursing - Company, Macmillan Cancer Support, and UKONS (UK Oncology Nursing Society), and are in ongoing communication with The Nursing and Midwifery Council. You can find out more on the Genomics Education Programme website here: https://lnkd.in/eh83M8k8 NHS North West Genomic Medicine Service Alliance NEYGenomics East Genomics NHS South East Genomic Medicine Service NHS North Thames Genomic Medicine Service NHS Central and South Genomics

Are you a customer focussed, friendly and enthusiastic individual, looking for a new challenge? We're recruiting for a Senior Programme Manager, a key role delivering the strategic aims of the Central and South Genomic Medicine Service Alliance.  Providing leadership of a defined portfolio of work across the Central and South geography, in both primary and secondary care, this exciting role will provide transformational leadership through the delivery of a defined set of actions. Learn more and apply here: https://lnkd.in/eqT7in6z

Two days until the NHS Genomics AI Network launch event - join to learn more about accelerating the use of AI in genomics medicine. More info and sign up below! 👇

Today is the last day to register for our World Diabetes Day webinar with Katharine Owen. Learn more about how you might encounter monogenic diabetes in your practice - whether in diabetes centres, primary care or antenatal clinics - and why it is important to your patients to get an accurate diagnosis. Sign up here 👇

We've just published November's edition of our newsletter! Click the link below to read more about updates in genomic medicine, including recently published research and exciting pharmaceutical findings: https://lnkd.in/ebv7Brj8

🚨🚨 NEW PAPER ALERT - Here’s our latest paper - where we looked at the local outcomes of nearly 5000 patients recruited in the NHS Central and South Genomics for whole genome sequencing in the GMSA in the 100,000 Genomes project 🚨This is the BIGGEST examination of the outcomes of fresh frozen tumour normal WGS in the world for cancer treatment and has some interesting messages: 👉 Fresh frozen WGS is feasible but over 1/3rd of patients have samples “unsuitable” for WGS - usually QC fails 👉 60% of patients had a therapeutic recommendation made - much higher than in panel based testing 👉 10% of patients had pathogenic germline variants detected (they were not known to be from families with these previously) - this is an important finding and probably justifies it alone 👉Only 5.1% of patients had the recommendations made by the tumour board followed, usually because of lack of availability of therapies outside a clinical trial ⏳More worryingly, 10% of people died before their WGS results returned — at the beginning of the study turn around time was 18 weeks but came down to 4 by the end - are we recruiting the wrong people. I still think WGS is worth it… but we need to think better about how we deliver it - probably closer to the patient with local teams and national banking of data - as we’ve shown we can deliver WGS in 48hrs using alternate tech. https://lnkd.in/eMxihUNX Genomics England, Illumina, Alex Dickinson, Eric Topol, MD , Dr. Lennard Lee- DPhil, FRCP, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust University of Birmingham

One day until our webinar on equality, diversity and inclusion within genomics! Hear from experts across haematology, oncology, genetic counselling, community engagement and patient experience on the current state of play and what's happening to improve the landscape. More information and registration via the link below. Sbba Siddique Kafilla Munir Raghavan Vidya Sasha Henriques https://lnkd.in/esbq5m4H

Are you a healthcare professional looking to learn more about the genetics of diabetes? To mark World Diabetes Day, we are hosting a webinar with Katharine Owen on the genetic causes for diabetes and what research is currently telling us, how to identify symptoms, the testing process and treatment options. More info and registration here 👇 https://lnkd.in/eGMUnd-Z

Are you a healthcare professional looking to learn more about Lynch Syndrome? Alongside West Midlands Cancer Alliance, we're hosting an upcoming networking event for colleagues working across oncology and genomics. Details and registration here 👇

In case you missed it 📽️ ITV spent the day with maternity and neonatal teams at Heartlands Hospital yesterday to hear all about the Generation Study. The Generation Study is a ground-breaking research study that will sequence the genomes of 100,000 newborn babies to test for over 200 rare genetic conditions. The study, led by Genomics England in partnership with NHS England, identifies treatable, rare conditions shortly after a baby is born rather than when symptoms might appear later in childhood. This means families can access the right support, monitoring, and treatment from the NHS much earlier for these conditions. The news piece can be viewed here: https://lnkd.in/eEfg3mKK at 24:14 minutes