We’re providing excellent care to brain cancer patients
The work of our Neurosurgery team (above) caring for patients with brain cancer has been recognised, with our service designated as a Tessa Jowell Centre of Excellence (after the former cabinet minister who was diagnosed with brain cancer a year before her death in 2018.)
We were one of six neuro-oncology centres awarded the designation by Yvette Cooper, MP and Secretary of State for Health, and Professor Peter Johnson, NHS England Clinical Director for Cancer, at an event at the Royal Society in London on Wednesday 14 October.
It recognises that we provide the highest possible standard of treatment, care and research, for our brain cancer patients, and was awarded following a rigorous review process lasting two years.
Hannah Holmes, Service Manager for Neurosurgery, said:
We are delighted to receive this award. Our team works incredibly hard to provide the highest standard of care, and it’s particularly meaningful to know our patients are being treated in a recognised centre of excellence.
Excellent patient care is a collaborative effort, and we’re proud of the commitment, expertise and compassion our team show their patients every day. We also look forward to working with the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission (TJBCM) to continue to develop our service.
Our neuro-oncology team showed exceptional commitment to service improvement, bringing together a wide range of specialties to improve rehabilitation, palliative care, neurology and clinical trial delivery. We also demonstrated a strong commitment to patient-centred care, ensuring we met all Tessa Jowell Standards of Excellence.
Neuro-oncology experts from the TJBCM specifically praised the coordination of our service across a complex network; approach to involving patients in decision-making; and our expansion of brain tumour research.
Nicky Huskens, Chief Executive of TJBCM, said:
Congratulations to the team at Barking, Havering and Redbridge. This award is a testament to the hard work of an incredible team working above and beyond to deliver a world-class brain tumour service.
Designation as a Centre of Excellence means more than just excellent care – it is a commitment to constantly improving, going further and faster for this patient group. We look forward to continued collaboration on our collective vision that every patient with a brain tumour benefits from excellent treatment, care and access to research – whoever they are, wherever they live.
We, along with the other newly designated centres, join 14 existing locations. In each centre, the whole team treating brain tumours, from surgeons and nurses, to physiotherapists, palliative care specialists and researchers, undergo a rigorous assessment of their services. Success centres were deemed to meet high standards of excellence in areas including clinical care, quality of life and access to clinical trials/research.