0-25 cancer website screenshot

Cancer services for children and young people in the East Midlands have a new visual identity and patient-focussed website thanks to the efforts of the Volute branding, design and website coding teams working with the clinicians at Nottingham University Hospitals and University Hospitals of Leicester.

A cancer diagnosis is an overwhelming experience, particularly for young people and their families, who need both emotional support and clear, accessible information. Recognising that their online presence was outdated and difficult to navigate, NHS cancer services in the East Midlands sought to transform how they connect with their audience.

Challenge

The NHS in the East Midlands provides cancer services for all age groups, hosted by two main hospital Trusts in Nottingham and Leicester, supported by satellite services across the region.

Clinicians and managers recognised that while their services for children, young people, teenagers and young adults, provide dedicated, excellent care, their online presence needed a refresh. They asked Volute to create a new brand and a new website, simplifying and their web content to appeal to their target audience.

Everyone in the 0-25 Cancer Service is extremely happy with our new website. It is an excellent resource for our service users, professionals and community now and for the future. The Volute team are great to collaborate with and they have enthusiastically guided us with their fantastic creative and technical skills to develop a website we can be proud of.

Maurice Brice

,

Senior Network Manager, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust

  • 0-25 website on a mobile phone
  • laptop
  • 0-25 website on a mobile phone
  • Areas Slide
  • 0-25 website on a laptop
  • Arrows Slide

Development

Co-production was central to the Volute approach:

  • We set up a series of focus groups with young cancer patients, family members, carers and members of staff involved in delivering the service. 
  • We heard the truly inspirational and very emotional stories of the courageous young people. 
  • We listened to what information would be helpful to them and others facing similar challenges. 
  • We held meetings with NHS professionals, learning about the complexity of the service and hearing how best we could help them and their colleagues in improving communications. 
  • We provided an online survey for those unable to make the meetings in order to hear from as many people as possible. 

The outcome was clear. The site needed to be age appropriate with services explained clearly and simply. Catering for a young target audience meant it also needed to be highly responsive, with a good look and easy navigation on phones. 

We created the ‘0 to 25 Cancer Services East Midlands’ website.

Core audience groups were divided into their own colourful web sections. The content is practical, supportive and useful. It adheres to NHS Identity Guidelines while resonating with the audience group concerned. Accessibility is built in. We road-tested the new look and content and refined it according to feedback. 

The Results

The response has been overwhelming. There are significant challenges involved in delivering a project like this and NHS managers and clinicians have praised it highly. However, the most heart-warming feedback has been from the patients themselves. 

The new brand is now working across their digital presence and is easily adapted for print and traditional media.