The Christie NHS FT Annual Report & Accounts 2019-20

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

Chair and Chief Executive’s statement

Welcome to our Annual Report and Accounts for 2019/20. The closing months of the financial year have been dominated by the unprecedented and exceptional circumstances faced by both The Christie and the wider NHS in response to the COVID-19 global pandemic. And whilst it is important to recognise the impact this has had, it is equally important to ensure that COVID-19 does not overshadow an important year of progress and development for The Christie. Never content to rest on our laurels, we are continually striving to improve the care we offer to our patients and to develop our cancer research and education. As an organisation, we must remain as focused on our strategy in the year ahead, as we have done in the year just gone. Our four key themes; Leading cancer care, The Christie experience, Local and specialist care, and Best outcomes remain as important as ever as we adapt to new circumstances and demands, constantly pushing the boundaries to ensure everything we do is focussed on achieving our goals in these areas. This Annual Report contains many examples of our pursuit of innovation and progression towards being a truly world-class cancer centre. Our proton beam therapy centre, which opened last year in a blaze of glory, as the first in the NHS, has continued building towards full capacity. This specialist form of radiotherapy treatment is already making a huge difference to patients who would have previously had to travel abroad for care. Our new facilities have cemented our status as the largest radiotherapy provider in the NHS. We are the largest provider in Europe, with one in 20 radiotherapy treatments delivered at The Christie. We are also one of just two cancer centres worldwide to offer both MR-linac and high energy proton beam therapy.

As important as these large global developments are, local provision of cancer care is equally important. This year we were delighted to open the latest in a line of community based chemotherapy clinics in Oldham, which helps us ensure that, where clinically appropriate, patients can receive gold standard Christie care nearer to their own homes. Our plans for a new Christie cancer centre in Macclesfield also gathered pace. A major fundraising campaign is underway for this much-needed facility. Another building project beginning to take shape is our new research facility, currently known as the Paterson Redevelopment Project. This will be a purpose-built biomedical cancer research facility, allowing us to develop our research capability like never before. Hand in hand with our partners, The University of Manchester and Cancer Research UK, this new centre will help us achieve our ambition of leading the world in clinical trial recruitment, supporting the development of new and kinder cancer therapies. In the meantime, our research progress does not stall. Despite the challenges we have faced, for the first ten months of the year, our research programmes continued to grow with work to recruit more patients than ever to clinical trials and give more patients access to new treatments. Alongside our research activities, our expertise also remains in demand. With strong years for both The Christie School of Oncology and The Christie International, our world-renowned clinicians continue to be in demand across the globe for their knowledge and experience in cancer care and education. This mirrors what we already firmly believe at The Christie - that our people are our best asset. None of our achievements would be possible without our staff, partners, governors, members, volunteers, charity, patients and so many others we work with across Greater Manchester and

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