We are The Christie magazine - Edition 6

News in brief

Farewell to Julie and Lorraine Two well-loved staff members, Julie Davies and Lorraine Burgess, retired recently. Lorraine had a remarkable 51-year NHS career, including 14 years at The Christie. In 2013, she became the UK’s first Macmillan dementia nurse consultant in a specialist cancer centre, helping transform care for patients living with both cancer and dementia. Lorraine supported families, improved staff understanding, and developed dementia-friendly services. Her work was recognised nationally, winning the Nursing Times Nurse of the Year award in 2014 and being named as a Queen’s Nurse. Julie spent almost four decades at The Christie and has led The Christie at Oldham since it opened in 2010. She helped build the service, bringing cancer treatment and care closer to home for many people. Over her career, she also contributed to developments in radiotherapy research and innovation. Both leave a legacy and will be greatly missed.

News in brief

Lorraine Burgess

Julie Davies

Five-fold success at the Greater Manchester Cancer Awards The Christie celebrated a fantastic night at the Greater Manchester Cancer Awards, taking home five awards recognising our work in research, innovation, education and equality. Winners included the RAPID-RT trial, which won the Commitment to Equality Award, and the proton beam therapy team, which won the Innovation Award for its use of virtual reality distraction therapy to support children and young people during treatment. Dr Sindhu Retnabai also received the Spark of Excellence Staff Award for her compassionate advocacy for teenagers and young adults with cancer. The Trust was also recognised for work improving oesophageal cancer detection in Kenya, and in Educational Impact for Digital Clinical Placements – the Manchester Model.

Results of UK’s first proton beam therapy trial published The results have been published in The Lancet, one of the world’s leading medical journals. The TORPEdO trial found that standard intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) is as effective as proton beam therapy for treating oropharyngeal cancer, a type of throat cancer. Professor David Thomson, the Christie consultant who led the trial, said: “Long-term outcomes with IMRT were very good and matched proton beam therapy. We are extremely grateful to the patients and multidisciplinary teams who made this trial possible. IMRT is widely available and delivers excellent patient outcomes. Proton beam therapy also plays an important role in cancer care. The treatment is standard of care for several groups, including children and young adults” Our upcoming restaurant refresh Our Withington site restaurant will undergo a refresh in the second half of this year, to improve the whole dining experience. This will include a new entrance, increased seating, a new outdoor terrace, more service and till points to reduce queues at busy times, and an increased ‘grab and go’ concept for those buying lunch in a hurry.

Guitarist is first in Europe to go home the same day after robotic operation Sam Birchall, lead guitarist in indie band The Lilacs, is believed to be the first person in Europe to go home the same day after a lymph node removal operation for testicular cancer that had spread. Sam was diagnosed last year at the age of 24. After surgery at his local hospital, he had three cycles of chemotherapy at The Christie before further tests showed he needed an operation to remove enlarged abdominal lymph nodes. The procedure was carried out robotically by Mr Aziz Gulamhusein, Consultant Urological Surgeon at The Christie. Sam said: “I had a robotic operation, which generally has a much shorter recovery time than open surgery, but I never expected to leave hospital the same day. It really couldn’t have gone any better.” Mr Gulamhusein said the milestone was “amazing” and showed how less invasive surgery can help patients recover more quickly.

Work is due to start over the summer and does unfortunately mean the restaurant will be reducing services. We hope to unveil our brand-new facilities by the end of this year.

If you’d like to read more about these stories, please visit: christie.nhs.uk/news

3