A new service for women with gynaecological cancer means survival rates in Greater Manchester – while already some of the best in the country – will continue to improve.
A joint development between Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT) and The Christie NHS Foundation Trust sees two teams of gynaecological cancer surgeons joining forces to create the largest single gynaecological surgical cancer team in the UK, capable of providing a full range of treatments for all women in Greater Manchester and beyond.
Women with gynaecological cancer will still receive treatment at both Saint Mary’s Hospital, part of MFT, and The Christie. In the new service, gynaecological oncology teams are working together to plan care for patients and ensure that all patients have access to the widest range of treatment options, advanced technologies like robotic surgery and access to clinical trials wherever possible.
The creation of the Greater Manchester Gynaecological Cancer Surgical Service has also led to other benefits. It has facilitated more joint working between teams of gynaecologists, specialist radiologists and pathologists based at all the hospitals across Greater Manchester. Now all hospitals have an easier mechanism for referring patients for specialist care in the centres, with a single electronic record system (Christie Clinical Web Portal) now being available to all hospitals and that patient data can be transferred if a patient needs to move their care from one hospital to another.
The teams of Macmillan Cancer Information Nurse Specialists who support patients undergoing treatment are now also more joined up across the whole of Greater Manchester providing more seamless care for patients as they progress through their diagnosis and treatment.
The service enables women to participate in a greater number of research studies and is closely linked with the Manchester Cancer Research Centre, The University of Manchester, Cancer Research UK and pharmaceutical companies. This means that as many patients as possible have the opportunity to participate in research, including donating tissue samples for study, taking part in clinical trials, undergoing innovative operations and being offered new treatments.
Professor Richard Edmondson, Professor of Gynaecological Oncology at Saint Mary’s Hospital and Clinical Head of the new service said: “This is a really exciting new development for patients in Greater Manchester which will enable them to have the best possible care.
“It places Greater Manchester as a national leader and creates a team of surgeons supported by chemotherapy and radiotherapy doctors who are able to work really closely together to provide the best, personalised care for each and every patient. Patients with gynaecological cancer in Greater Manchester already have survival rates that are some of the best in the country, but we are confident that this development will lead to further improvements in these figures which we all want to see increase.”
Sarah Price, Interim Chief Officer of Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership said:
“We’re delighted to have been part of the development of the Greater Manchester Gynaecological Cancer Surgical Service which we hope will provide more joined up care, improved access to treatment and better outcomes for patients with gynaecological cancer across our city region.”