Chinwag Spring 2019

Corporate news

Proton power

After many years in the planning, we were privileged to start treating patients in the NHS’s first high- energy proton beam therapy (PBT) centre in December. The treatment we are now providing here will make a huge difference to patients who previously had to travel abroad for this specialist form of radiotherapy. One of the first patients to be treated was Mason Kettley, aged 15, who was diagnosed with a brain

Mason’s case was referred to a national panel of experts, who reviewed the details of his case and concurred that he was eligible for PBT treatment which started in January. The Christie is the first NHS high-energy PBT centre in the UK as part

tumour in October last year. Following investigations and scans at Worthing Hospital near his home in Angmering in West Sussex, it became clear the tumour – a benign pilomyxoid astrocytoma – was growing in critical areas of his brain, making it inoperable due to the risk of blindness and other catastrophic complications.

of a £250m programme for a national PBT service funded by NHS England. A second PBT centre is also currently being built at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and is due to open in 2020. To ensure consistency of service, once the two UK PBT centres are operational, some patients will continue to be sent abroad for treatment until both centres have fully developed their capacity of up to 750 patients a year. Mason finished his treatment at the beginning of March and staff who have been caring for him were delighted to watch him ring the end of treatment bell. management, radiotherapy, radiology, rehabilitation, supportive care, surgery, histopathology and cytogenetics. The Christie’s international team, working in partnership with UK based training company, Promedica, has led this initiative, arranging bespoke programmes for each individual through the School of Oncology, to shadow some of the hospital’s world leading cancer specialists. This is the first stage of what is hoped will be a longer- term collaboration involving education and training and expert consultancy advice, which will help generate on-going revenue for The Christie Trust, to be reinvested in patient care.

Mason Kettley

International expertise Congratulations to our international team which received recognition recently at the ‘BD Ports Northern Powerhouse Export Awards’ winning an award in the ‘new to export’ category.

This was for its part in a consortium that was selected to provide expert consultancy advice to the Rong Qiao Group in China. The contract was signed last year for the first phase of what is planned to be a long-term collaboration which will generate revenue to be reinvested in patient care. Work to deliver this contract is now underway and discussions are ongoing about phase two. The next few months will also see the team focus on reinforcing the success of The Christie’s partnership with Cork University Hospital (CUH), Ireland. The expert contributions of Christie colleagues have been instrumental in the development of a new radiation oncology centre, which is due to open there in the autumn. Meanwhile, The Christie played host to staff from the East Kazakhstan Regional Oncology Centre in a collaboration to help improve cancer services in the country. Placements were arranged in a number of key departments giving a group of eight visitors the opportunity to observe the latest practice in cancer

International expertise: Christie Deputy Director Of Business Development Jenny Scott is pictured centre with Askar Ibrayev, Lyudmila Rebenkova, Saule Mananbaeva and Dana Tulebayeva from East Kazakhstan Regional Oncology Centre (left to right)

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