31 October, 2025
On October 15th 2025, Laura Lonergan, Clinical Nurse Manager III Cancer Navigation Project Implementation lead at St James’s Hospital, represented the hospital at the CCI4EU (Comprehensive Cancer Infrastructures for the European Union) Conference in Madrid. She delivered a presentation on “The Role of the Patient Navigator / Case Manager in Effective Cancer Pathways.”
The two-day conference brought together international experts to explore how coordinated care, research integration, and patient centred services can be embedded within national and European cancer infrastructures.
In her presentation, Laura outlined how formalising patient navigation roles in improving care coordination, supports patients through complex treatment pathways, and enhances equity and efficiency across the health system. By bridging clinical, research, and supportive services, the navigator ensures that no patient is left behind while enabling specialist nurses and multidisciplinary teams to focus on advanced clinical priorities.
The next phase of this work will be progress through a service development initiative funded by the Irish Cancer Society, led by Laura in her capacity as Project Implementation Lead. This initiative involves international scoping and engagement with patient representatives from the outset, shaping both the design and evaluation of the upcoming navigation pilot.
The pilot programme, due to commence shortly, will focus initially on head and neck and gynaecological cancer pathways. It represents an important step in developing an evidence-based model for navigation within Irish cancer services, one that can inform future national planning and integration efforts.
Laura’s participation at the CCI4EU Conference and her ongoing work through the Irish Cancer Society funded initiative, reflects St James’s continued engagement in advancing evidence-based, patient-centred cancer care.