The Christie NHS FT Annual Report & Accounts 2019-20

The Christie NHS Foundation Trust Annual Report & Accounts 2019-20

world in clinical trial recruitment, supporting the development of new and kinder cancer therapies. Our ambitious plans reflect our current status. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, our research and innovation team was already operating more than 650 clinical trials at any one time and was one of the biggest cancer clinical trials centres in Europe. Patient recruitment to new trials was paused as a result of COVID-19 but we hope to restart recruitment again as soon as we are able in 2020-21. Through our NIHR Manchester Clinical Research Facility at The Christie, staff and patients benefit from a large, high quality, dedicated clinical research environment where patients can participate in complex and early phase clinical trials. In the latest figures, The Christie has contributed to the region achieving a record number of patients taking part in clinical trials across Greater Manchester in 2018/19, according to the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Clinical Research Network (CRN). In total, 2,120 Christie patients participated in studies, which is a 17.2 per cent increase on the 1,809 figure in 2017/18. In June, our research work was further boosted when businessman and philanthropist Ian Taylor donated £4.5m to The Christie to support the UK’s first ever clinical trial using high-energy proton beam therapy for patients with cancers of the mouth and throat. This highly generous gift will support a team led by Dr David Thomson, a specialist in head and neck cancers at The Christie, to deliver clinical trials, scientific research, innovation through translational science and the training of future leaders in the treatment of head and neck cancer. The donation also demonstrates how vital charitable giving is to our development. Our charity has continued to support the work of the

the NHS, the largest provider in Europe, with one in 20 radiotherapy treatments delivered at The Christie; and one of only two cancer centres worldwide to offer both MR-linac and high energy proton beam therapy. Our desire to continually increase the level of care we offer closer to patients’ homes also continued this year. Following the introduction of a new Christie chemotherapy suite at Doctor Kershaw’s Hospice in Royton, more cancer patients from the Oldham area can now receive first class chemotherapy and immunotherapy treatments within easy reach. The Christie’s chemotherapy service now delivers chemotherapy treatment through the largest chemotherapy unit in the UK, with the outreach programme covering 12 other sites, a mobile chemotherapy unit and patients’ homes. As our patient numbers continue to grow, providing care closer to home is becoming ever more important and this year our plans for a new Christie cancer centre in Macclesfield took shape with planning permission granted for the new building which will provide a purpose built unit for more than 1,500 patients attending up to 40,000 appointments every year. Another new building project which took major strides forward this year was our new research facility, currently known as the Paterson Redevelopment Project (PRP), which will be built at The Christie to replace the fire-damaged Paterson building. Planning permission was granted in Autumn for the £150m flagship building which will be a purpose-built biomedical cancer research facility bringing together three powerhouses of innovation – The Christie, The University of Manchester and Cancer Research UK. The new facility will be home to several hundred scientists, doctors, nurses and support staff who will be at the heart of our ambition to lead the

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