What you need to know before completing the questionnaire
Children’s cancer centres (known as Principal Treatment Centres) are responsible for making sure each child gets the expert care they need. They are mainly for children aged 15 and under with cancer. (They can carry on caring for older children if that is best for individual patients.)
This consultation is about the centre for children with cancer living in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, Kent, Medway, south London and most of Surrey. We describe this as “south London and much of the south east.”
The Principal Treatment Centre for south London and much of the south east is currently provided in partnership between The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (Trusts are NHS organisations that run services for patients).
The teams leading and coordinating specialist care for children with cancer, including chemotherapy, conventional radiotherapy and bone marrow transplants, are based at The Royal Marsden’s site in Sutton. Lifesaving intensive care, most children’s cancer surgery, and other specialist services needed by children with cancer are led and coordinated by the teams at St George’s Hospital eight miles away in Tooting.
The service they provide is safe and high quality. Their specialist teams work very hard to make sure children with cancer get safe, high quality joined-up care.
It is now a requirement for very specialist services that lead and coordinate children’s cancer care – like those at The Royal Marsden – to be on the same site as a children’s intensive care unit and other specialist children’s services. The current service for children with cancer who live in south London and much of the south east does not and cannot meet this requirement.
This consultation will help to answer the question “Where should the proposed future children’s cancer centre be?” We are consulting on two options – that the future centre is either:
- Evelina London Children’s Hospital, Lambeth, south London, with conventional radiotherapy services at University College Hospital
or
- St George’s Hospital, Tooting, south London, with conventional radiotherapy services at University College Hospital.
It is helpful to read our consultation documents before you complete this questionnaire. More information, including our consultation documents, can be found on our Key information page.
We really want to know your thoughts on the good points and drawbacks of each option, as well as your ideas for making these proposed changes go smoothly. We also welcome your views, questions and any additional information you think we should know. A public consultation is not a vote or referendum. It is a chance to tell us what you think.
Important information
Closing date: 18 December 2023
The survey can be completed by anyone, of any age
- It has five sections:
- About you
- Our case for change and proposals
- Impacts
- Ongoing involvement and move to the new location
- Demographic questions
- The questionnaire should take no longer than 30 minutes to complete.
Need additional support with the questionnaire?
An easy read version of the consultation document and questionnaire are available in the easy read summary.
If you require this information in another language or format, please contact us at england.childrenscancercentre@nhs.net.
Download and print
If you would prefer, you can download the questionnaire here (PDF), print it and fill it out and then send it to us via Freepost (no need for a stamp) to FREEPOST CHILDRENS CANCER CENTRE.
Contact
The team running this questionnaire is from NHS England London and South East regions.
They can be contacted by email at: england.childrenscancercentre@nhs.net.