The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre welcome Shadow Health Secretary and Wirral South MP on visit

Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting and Wirral South MP Alison McGovern have visited The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre to hear first-hand how research at its specialist hospitals and the latest advances in treatment are enhancing cancer care.

Wes and Alison met patients and staff at two of The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre’s main sites to learn about the services they provide – including pioneering immunotherapies and cancer vaccines, stem cell transplants, advanced radiotherapy and urgent cancer care – and how innovation is at the heart of improving outcomes for patients being treated there.

Trust Chair Kathy Doran and Chief Executive Liz Bishop were delighted to welcome the MPs to the Clatterbridge Cancer Centres in Wirral (CCC-Wirral), which is in Alison’s constituency, and Liverpool (CCC-Liverpool).

During their tour of Clatterbridge Cancer Centre – Liverpool (CCC-Liverpool), Wes and Alison heard how the flagship 11-storey hospital, which opened in June 2020 in the heart of the city’s Knowledge Quarter, has been transforming cancer care for the people of Cheshire & Merseyside. They saw its spectacular facilities and they heard how every aspect of the award-winning hospital was designed to promote patient and staff wellbeing.

They were keen to visit The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre because of its reputation for leading cancer care. While at CCC-Liverpool, they heard how the new hospital’s location – with rapid access to acute medical and surgical specialties in the Royal Liverpool – has enabled the Trust to take cancer research to new heights including first-in-human clinical trials that could not have been offered before.

This includes the pioneering Transgene trial of an immunotherapy ‘vaccine’ individually designed for each patient’s DNA with the aim of transforming outcomes for people with recurrent head and neck cancers.

Wes and Alison spoke to patients and staff and heard about the pioneering chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatments being provided.

CCC-Liverpool hosts the regional Teenage and Young Adult Cancer Unit and Wes and Alison visited the unit to see one of the hospital’s 110 individual inpatient bedrooms. Every inpatient has their own en-suite room with smart bedside TV entertainment system, a fridge and tea/coffee facilities. Patients have praised the wards saying they like the privacy, freedom and autonomy that comes with having their own room.

While there, the two MPs also met Dr Seamus Coyle, Clinical Director of Innovation and a Consultant in Palliative Medicine at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre, who talked about the culture of innovation at the Trust and how enhanced supportive care is giving people with advanced, incurable cancer more control over their treatment, reducing pain and improving their quality of life.

Earlier in the day, Wes and Alison had visited Clatterbridge Cancer Centre – Wirral (CCC-Wirral), which is celebrating its 65th birthday next year and is the Trust’s southern hub providing cancer care for patients from Cheshire, Wirral and the surrounding areas.

They spent time chatting to patients and staff in CCC-Wirral, which is also the site of the UK’s only low-energy proton beam therapy service for eye tumours. The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre will be investing significantly in CCC-Wirral over the next few years, upgrading its estate and facilities.

The MPs also heard about Clatterbridge Diagnostics, which was one of the first of the new NHS community diagnostic centre (CDCs) being rolled out nationally as part of NHS England plans to achieve faster diagnosis for cancer and other serious health conditions.

The centre – which is at CCC-Wirral and is a partnership between The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre and Wirral University Teaching Hospital – is one of the five CDCs that have now opened across Cheshire & Merseyside with four more planned as part of a regional diagnostics programme. The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre’s Chief Executive Liz Bishop is senior responsible officer (SRO) for the programme at Cheshire & Merseyside Acute and Specialist Provider Collaborative (CMAST), working with trusts across the region.

Dr Liz Bishop, Chief Executive of The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre, said of the visit:

“We were delighted to show Wes and Alison our facilities at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre. They were keen to come and see the work we are doing and speak to our fantastic clinical teams who are at the cutting-edge of new therapies and initiatives to improve outcomes for our patients.

“We were especially pleased to show them our award-winning hospital in Liverpool – which is not only a wonderful facility for patients in the north of our catchment area but has brought a step-change in our ability to enhance cancer research – and our original hospital in Wirral, which continues to be a vitally important hub providing specialist care for the local population.”

Kathy Doran, Chair of The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre, said:

“It was lovely to meet Wes and to see Alison, whose constituency includes CCC-Wirral, again. It was good of them to take the time to visit our hospitals and speak to clinicians about their work and to patients to hear about their experiences. Staff welcomed the opportunity to chat to them about the outstanding care they deliver and their vision for the future of cancer treatment and care.”

Alison McGovern, the MP for Wirral South, said:

“It is a source of immense pride to me that the people of The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre save lives every day, helping people live with cancer and giving them a sense that life can continue.

“We’re at the cutting edge of new treatments, with innovative patient care and quality of healthcare that is the best, bar none.

“My constituents and I are immensely proud of The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre, so I was extremely pleased to welcome Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting so that we could both learn from the Centre’s excellence.”

Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting, who is also the MP for Ilford North, said:

“I’ve been blown away by what I’ve seen at the Clatterbridge Cancer Centres today. They are providing outstanding cancer care for people across Merseyside as well as conducting really exciting research.

“The NHS is dealing with a huge backlog, with 34,000 people waiting for scans and tests used to diagnose in Merseyside alone. I wanted to come to Clatterbridge and see the world-leading work being done here, so that the next Labour government can roll out this level of service across the country.”

Visit The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre website here.