How the children’s cancer service change impacts families in Wandsworth
They insist that the service must move from its current location which is shared between the Royal Marsden Hospital in Sutton and St. George’s University Hospitals in Tooting.
Where will the service go?
The options for the new locations are the Evelina Hospital in Lambeth and St George’s Hospital in Tooting. Changes to the principal treatment centre (the place where care is co-ordinated and delivered most), might change services and staffing at these three locations.
Who does the change impact?
- Patients
In 2019/20, the Royal Marsden children’s cancer treatment centre served 536 children as inpatients from South London, Kent and Medway, Surrey, East Sussex, and Brighton and Hove.
NHS England does not plan to move the site until at least 2026. Most current patients will have completed their treatments by then. The move will mostly impact future patients and their parents, carers, and friends.
- Staff
Some Royal Marsden staff will also be invited to work at the new treatment centre. NHS England has spoken with current patients and staff to understand the impact of the move. This is captured in their consultation report. (An Easy Read version is also available).
- Wider impact
Other people will be affected as well. For example, if staff move from the shared specialist sites at Royal Marsden and St. George’s, this will impact other patients under their care for other illnesses. The result of moving patients to a new site might also impact other patients already being treated at that site.
The site move might also impact children, their loved ones, and staff in paediatric oncology (children’s cancer) centres in neighbouring catchment areas. This is because both potential sites are at least a 30minute drive further north than the Royal Marsden in Sutton, and not all future patients will want to travel into Central London for care.
This might lead to more people seeking care in other hospitals, (because patients are entitled to ask to be treated in different locations).
Why are there plans to move the treatment centre?
New NHS England national guidance states that the principal treatment centre for children’s cancer care must have a paediatric (children’s) intensive care unit onsite. This is to manage the risks to transferring very sick children who need these services.
Currently a small number of children are transferred each year from Sutton (The Royal Marsden) to Tooting (St George’s) for intensive care. The transfer is a 30-40minute long 8mile journey.
What is the debate?
There are 3 main arguments people are making about this issue:
- The centre should be located at St. George’s in Tooting – their bid
- The centre should be located at the Evelina in Lambeth – their bid
- The centre should stay at the Royal Marsden
Although the three arguments are in debate, the final argument to keep the centre at the Royal Marsden is very unlikely to win, as the NHS England have claimed a move is non-negotiable.
A 2020 report shows that parents agreed there was a need to move the treatment centre to be onsite with a children’s intensive care unit. However, a group of parents are now working hard to fight this move and to keep the paediatric oncology centre at the Royal Marsden.
They believe the quality and experience of care is better at the Royal Marsden than the alternatives. Many are also concerned about increased travel times and other travel complications with reaching these sites. They have approached local council members in South West London and are circulating a petition.
How can I let NHS England know my views?
The consultation period is now open and will close on 18 December 2023.
What has Healthwatch been doing about this?
The South West London Healthwatch collaborative (comprised of Healthwatch Croydon, Merton, Kingston, Richmond, Sutton, and Wandsworth) are championing patient engagement in these consultations. We have so far:
- Talked in pre-consultation with NHS England to help them approach the now open public consultation. After we asked for patients to be included in decisions, NHS England showed evidence of talking to patients about this consultation, and they asked for patients’ views on moving the primary treatment centre in the first place.
- Been to meetings where we share the views of concerned patients. We asked NHS England to answer the points that parents raised in their consultation report. We found that most concerns have been heard. We are following closely to see that there is a plan to address these concerns.
Shared what we found with the Mayor of London’s office. They are conducting an independent assessment about this service change to ensure that people are involved meaningfully and that good data and evidence drive the selection of the new treatment site.
Update
"NHS England has decided Evelina London will in future provide the specialist cancer treatment centre for children living in south London and much of south east England.
The Evelina Hospital has been chosen on the basis of a decision-making business case, the pre-consultation evaluation of the options, feedback from the recent public consultation and other evidence. The decision making business case can be read NHS England's consultation website. Children’s cancer centres (known as Principal Treatment Centres) provide diagnosis, treatments, and coordination of very specialist care for children aged 15 and under with cancer.
NHS England also agreed that conventional radiotherapy services will in future be provided at University College Hospital in central London, where children with cancer from south London and much of the south east already go for proton beam therapy and other superspecialist forms of radiotherapy.
Very specialist children’s cancer services will move from The Royal Marsden to Evelina London, once everything required for the future centre is in place. NHS England have said this will not be before October 2026 at the earliest, and there will be no sudden changes to children’s care in the meantime. NHS England will now focus on detailed implementation planning taking in account concerns raised during the consultation, making sure that Evelina London:
- Identifies families who may need help with transport as early as possible, providing clear information for families;
- Provides parking spaces and accommodation for parents to stay near their child;
- Has effective, easy-to-use support for reclaiming costs where appropriate.
NHS South West London wants the best services for children needing this care and have always supported a fair and transparent process for this programme of work.
As it will take a number of years and building works to implement the changes, our focus at the ICB will be ensuring children continue to receive high quality care in the interim period.
We will work with all providers to carefully plan a smooth and safe transition of services to the new providers.
A letter from NHS England is attached with details of the decision taken and an outline of next steps. There is more information about the consultation at: www.transformationpartners.nhs.uk/childrenscancercentre
You can also email the NHS England team on england.childrenscancercentre@nhs.net".
