Cambridge University Hospitals (CUH) is pleased to announce that it has been designated a Tessa Jowell Centre of Excellence for Children, highlighting the strength of its services for children with a brain tumour.
CUH is one of four UK paediatric neuro-oncology centres to be awarded the designation by the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission (TJBCM).
The designation was confirmed by Ashley Dalton, the health minister, at an event in London yesterday.
The event marked the launch of the new Tessa Jowell Academy for Paediatrics, a national hub for training and collaboration in paediatric neuro-oncology, providing an opportunity for CUH to share examples of excellent practice with other children’s neuro-oncology centres around the UK.
The designation of four new Tessa Jowell Centres of Excellence for Children, joining the six previously designated, now means that two thirds of the UK population is now in the catchment area of a Tessa Jowell Centre of Excellence for Children. This is a major step towards ensuring that children receive excellent care irrespective of where they live.
Recognition of excellence and rapid improvement
CUH was designated as a Tessa Jowell Centre of Excellence after working for the past 18 months to implement innovative new solutions. The centre’s neuro-oncology team showed an exceptional commitment to service development, bringing together a wide number of specialties to deliver impactful changes.
The designation follows a rigorous review process which examined multiple areas of the patient pathway in detail, together with patient feedback collected by The Brain Tumour Charity. TJBCM’s panel of neuro-oncology experts particularly commended CUH for excellence in their:
- Outstanding rehabilitation through the Brainbow service enabling meaningful recovery beyond treatment.
- Comprehensive follow-up support for patients and their families including holistic end-of-treatment summaries and a robust system for screening patients’ psychological needs.
- Excellent use of audio-visual technology and support from imaging staff to reduce the reliance on anaesthesia and improve the patient’s experience during MRI scans.
- Outstanding specialist training for all neuro-oncology staff, developing expertise within both the hospital and its wider network, ensuring a highly skilled and resilient workforce.
- Strong research activity, underpinned by growing collaborations with nearby research institutes, highlighting Cambridge’s contribution to national innovation and evidence generation.
All areas of CUH’s service now meet the Tessa Jowell Standards of Excellence, thanks to the hard work of the paediatric neuro-oncology team in delivering significant service developments, reflecting the team’s strong commitment to patient-centred care.
Centre of Excellence designation confirms CUH’s commitment not only to high-quality care today but to continually improving services for children in the years ahead.
A new specialist children’s hospital is planned for the East of England, the only region without one. The new five-storey 35,000sqm hospital will be based at the heart of the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Europe’s largest biomedical campus.
The new Cambridge Children's Hospital will further improve the experience for children with brain tumours and their families in the region, and will include a dedicated haematology and oncology ward, including Bone Marrow Transplant service, and a cancer day unit.
The new hospital will unite mental and physical healthcare with world-leading life sciences research in a Whole New Way, treating mind and body as one.
Nicky Huskens, Chief Executive of the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission, said:
“Congratulations to everyone in CUH’s paediatric neuro-oncology service. Designation as a Centre of Excellence for Children underlines the strength of services for children with a brain tumour. The neuro-oncology team has shown its firm dedication to improving care and an impressive capacity to make meaningful changes in a tight timeframe. We look forward to continuing to work with them, helping to share their innovations and best practice with colleagues across the country.”
Professor Matthew Murray, Honorary Consultant Paediatric Oncologist, Cambridge University Hospitals, said:
“The Cambridge team is delighted to have been designated as a Tessa Jowell Centre of Excellence for Children. The whole team have worked tirelessly to achieve the Tessa Jowell standards. We believe our service is truly holistic and patient-centred and the feedback we received from patients and families reflected this. I am proud of each individual member of our team who has contributed so substantially so that we have received this recognition. Tessa Jowell accreditation will allow us to continue to provide the best care for children with a brain tumour in our region, and use this to leverage the necessary change we require to continue to stay at the forefront of research and clinical care in paediatric neuro-oncology.”
Alongside this recognition as a Tessa Jowell Centre of Excellence for Children, we are looking forward to move into the Cambridge Children's Hospital (CCH) in due course. This will further improve the experience for children with brain tumours and their families in the region.
Professor Matthew Murray
The family of a patient who was cared for by the Cambridge University Hospitals’ paediatric neuro-oncology team said:
“We are so grateful for the support we have been given by the [CUH] neuro-oncology service, the CNS has been instrumental in helping us navigate our way through a changing landscape for our child. We have confidence that our child’s best interests are taken into account by the team and when new treatment or surgery is required this has been clearly explained to us. We feel our child is known to the service and isn’t just another name, even doctors that haven’t seen him before know his history before they talk to us. This personal approach is really appreciated.”
Strengthening services across the UK
The Tessa Jowell Centre of Excellence for Children programme is the most comprehensive evaluation of children’s brain tumour services ever undertaken in the UK. Launched in 2023, it uses benchmarking data, peer review, targeted recommendations and shared learning to give NHS teams the tools and insight they need to continuously develop their services.
The four newly-designated centres join the six designated in 2023. The centres form the cornerstone of the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission’s commitment to ensuring that every child with a brain tumour benefits from excellent treatment, care and access to research — wherever they live.
The ten Tessa Jowell Centres of Excellence for Children are:
- Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust
- Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- Greater Manchester Children’s Neuro-oncology Service: The Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital and The Christie NHS Foundation Trust
- Great Ormond Street Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (GOSH) and University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH) Joint Centre
- Newcastle Hospitals and Newcastle University
- Nottingham Children’s Hospital at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust
- Royal Hospital for Children, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, and Royal Aberdeen Children's Hospital, NHS Grampian
- Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust
- The Royal Marsden Hospital, St George's Hospital and King's College Hospital with The Institute of Cancer Research, London, (as the South London Paediatric Neuro-Oncology Network)
- University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust