1 Current Problems
2 PKB Solution
3 PKB Benefits
4 Use Cases
- 4.1 East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust
5 Key PKB Features
- 5.1 Advanced Questionnaires and Remote Monitoring
- 5.2 Secure Messaging
- 5.3 PKB Library
- 5.4 Care Plans
- 5.5 Data Release
- 5.6 Resource Library
6 Further Information

Patients Know Best (PKB) is used across the NHS to deliver coordinated, patient-centred cancer care. By providing a single digital record for communication, information sharing, and remote monitoring. PKB streamlines oncology pathways, reduces administrative burdens, and enhances the patient experience.

This directly aligns with the UK Government’s National Cancer Plan, a 10-year strategy to improve outcomes via digital technology and shift care into patients' homes and communities.

Integrated with the NHS App, PKB provides the infrastructure to:

Deliver personalised cancer care plans.
Support remote monitoring for chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and other pathways.
Share appointments, clinical letters, test results, and resources securely.

By keeping patients connected and informed, PKB empowers individuals to manage their health while helping oncology services deliver safer, more efficient, and sustainable care.

Current Problems

Lack of a single patient view
High outpatient demand and administrative burden
High call volumes and fragmented communication
Limited visibility of patient symptoms between appts
Paper-based processes
No access to information and data digitally
Need for digital remote monitoring at home
Patient needing to repeat information

PKB Solution

Single patient record accessible through the NHS App
Access to test results, radiology reports, letters and appointments
Automated digital Advanced Questionnaires for all stages of a patient's cancer treatment
Digital Library resources
Individualised, personal, editable digital care planning
Informed consent and shared decision tools
Validating Waitlist via Advanced Questionnaires
Secure asynchronous messaging

PKB Benefits

Improved clinical efficiency through streamlined digital workflows
Reduced administrative burden and phone time for clinical and admin staff
Cost savings on postage and phone calls
Lower DNA (Did Not Attend) rates
Reduced hospital readmission rates
Improved patient access to their own health data and information
Empowers patients to engage actively in their care journey

Use Cases

East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust

The prostate cancer team use PKB to provide a remote monitoring pathway available to stable prostate cancer patients post-radiotherapy and radical treatment with PKB's messaging, test results, questionnaires and symptom features.

Patients complete a digital Symptoms Assessment Questionnaire via PKB prior to each 6-month review and undergo local blood testing. Lab results (including PSA and Testosterone) are released directly to the patient's PKB record three days later. If the patient is doing well, the clinical team completes a virtual review without requiring a hospital visit or phone call.

Outcomes and Benefits

57% active engagement
Clinical review time halved
Specialist nurse time saved
The time savings allowed the department to redeploy specialist nurses to focus on complex clinical activities and urgent cases
Eliminates telephone chasing
Reduced patient anxiety
Created a digital remote monitoring process

To read the full use case in full, click here.

Key PKB Features

PKB offers a range of digital features designed to help cancer services streamline clinical workflows, automate remote monitoring, and deliver personalised care.

Advanced Questionnaires and Remote Monitoring

AQs are used to capture Patient-Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs), conduct Holistic Needs Assessments (HNAs), and safely triage patients to Personalised Stratified Follow-Up (PSFU) or Patient-Initiated Follow-Up (PIFU) pathways. Patients can initiate or respond to questionnaires directly within the NHS App or their PKB record.

Clinical Branching and Scoring: Questionnaires feature smart logic that skips irrelevant sections for the patient while calculating real-time clinical scores
System Interoperability: Responses can be mapped directly to clinical codes, ensuring data integrates smoothly with the org's central electronic patient record (EPR).
At-Home Remote Monitoring: Patients can regularly upload vital signs along with specific cancer symptoms, enabling teams to detect clinical deterioration between scheduled appointments.
Flexible Access: Teams can securely send diagnostic or screening questionnaires to patients who are not yet registered and fully onboard them into the specific oncology team.

Example Questionnaire Templates

Secure Messaging

PKB reduces telephone bottlenecks by shifting non-urgent enquiries to secure, asynchronous messaging.

Team-Based Messaging: Messages and completed questionnaires are routed to a shared team inbox rather than an individual clinician's email, ensuring seamless cross-cover and continuity of care.
Administrative Triage: Admin staff can triage incoming patient messages, resolve queries or hand over to the specialist team.
Universal Communication: Patients benefit from a single, secure channel to message both clinical and non-clinical teams, vastly improving the coordination of their care journey.
Saves Time: Non-urgent inquiries are answered promptly, avoiding phone tag.

PKB Library

PKB provides a central location for oncology information, guidance and personalised educational content to support patients from diagnosis throughout their treatment.

Access to trusted cancer information and local guidance.
Supports informed decision-making.
Reduces misinformation from external sources.
Information can be tailored to specific pathways or treatment stages.

Care Plans

Aligned with the National Cancer Plan, PKB serves as the central host for digital care plans that adapt to every stage of the patient's oncological journey.

PKB care plans are editable by both the patient and their team with professional-only edit sections for key medication information or decisions.
All healthcare teams are viewing the exact same information
Teams can utilise pre-built templates for symptom monitoring, care plans, information, or treatment, customisable for each patient pathway.

Example Care Plan Templates

Monitoring condition plan (example cardiology monitoring care plan)
Goals setting care plan
Oncology consent care plan
Oncology Team Care Plan examples

Data Release

PKB is unique in its ability to share clinical data directly to patients, reducing administrative letter backlogs while maintaining strict clinical safety boundaries.

Custom delay timer (typically 28 days) for highly sensitive results, ensuring the consultant has spoken to the patient.
Routine data, including test results, radiology reports, GP data, diagnoses, and discharge summaries, clinical and appointment letters and appointments.
Static care plans

Resource Library