The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust is one of the UK’s leading cancer centres
13/02/2026
CCC has a new Research Fellow who will study new treatments for eye cancer.
CCC Medical Oncology Registrar Dr Omar Fakih is beginning a new Research Fellowship with the University of Liverpool looking at improving immunotherapy treatments for uveal melanoma, the most common eye cancer in adults.
Apprenticeships can help our staff to develop new skills, grow in confidence, gain recognised qualifications and progress in their career, all while making a meaningful difference to our services.
To mark , we asked CCC apprentices to share their experiences.
Read their full stories and find out more about the opportunities available at CCC via the link in the comments 👇
12/02/2026
Clatterbridge wants to know your views about giving more people access to pioneering cancer research.
Breaking Barriers is an initiative trying to give patients the opportunity to take part in leading clinical research if it is available and beneficial.
Here is a radio interview with CCC’s Emma Whitby, who is leading on the project.
Specialist supportive oncology nurse Emma Davey, who cares for HIV+ people with cancer, has been shortlisted for the BJN Oncology Nurse of the Year Award. Emma was nominated for her incredible dedication to providing inclusive, personalised cancer care – and in particular her pioneering work on HIV and cancer.
After noticing that people living with HIV were disproportionately affected by cancer – particularly as patients in need of palliative or supportive care – she realised there was a significant gap in care for the growing numbers of HIV+ people with cancer.
She provides HIV+ patients at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre with dedicated one-to-one support, ensuring their cancer medications are compatible with their HIV medicines and that there are strong links between the cancer and HIV teams caring for them.
“I feel very privileged to do this job,” said Emma, “and to be able to amplify the voices of people who aren’t always heard, particularly HIV+ people with cancer. It’s so important that we make supportive oncology available to people who might not want or be able to come to us.
“You do a job like this for the patients, not for recognition, but it’s a really lovely cherry on the cake to be shortlisted for this award.”
Dr Dan Monnery, Consultant in Palliative and Supportive Care, said:
“Emma is a phenomenal nurse whose warmth, intelligence and compassion are immediately obvious to everyone who meets her. She has made a tremendous impact on supportive oncology – nationally as well as locally – by recognising the unmet needs of so many patients and taking action to change that.
“In addition to her inspirational work on inclusive cancer care, Emma has also transformed our service in other ways. She is a fantastic colleague and nurse and I am really delighted she has been shortlisted for this award.”
The British Journal of Nursing Awards take place in London on Friday 20 March 2026.
12/02/2026
You might have heard Paul on our BBC 5 Live broadcast from CCC‑L last week, where he spoke about his cancer vaccine treatment. He shared that he was due to ring the bell the day before his birthday - and he did just that 👏
Paul was joined by family, and what seemed like most of our staff!, as he rang the bell to signify completing his treatment.
What a special moment, and we hope Paul had a wonderful birthday celebrating with loved ones 💚
11/02/2026
Join Clatterbridge Cancer Centre's Clinical Education Team and NHS Royal Surrey on Monday 29th June 2026 for a dynamic online study day!
If you are a researcher, practitioner, educator, or student working in Advanced Practice in Oncology, then this is an ideal conference to present and discuss your work, network with like minded colleagues and learn what’s new in this area.
📣 Call for Abstracts: To submit an abstract for poster and oral presentation 👉 https://orlo.uk/yZj5S
Deadline: 2nd March 2026.
11/02/2026
Our website will be offline for around 15 minutes at some point between 9am and 12noon. This is due to essential maintenance. We apologise for any inconvenience.
Call 0151 556 5000 to reach our Switchboard.
Our free Patient Hotline (for side effects and complications related to cancer treatment) is 0800 169 5555.
10/02/2026
Congratulations to Consultant Clinical Oncologist, Dr Chloë May, who presented her research at the recent British Skull Base Society Meeting and was awarded the runner up prize for best oral presentation on radiotherapy for skull base paragangliomas.
Skull base paragangliomas are a collection of rare, complex, benign tumours which can be managed conservatively or treated with surgery and/or radiotherapy, and Dr May is the only clinician who treats them for our entire catchment area.
Her research showed an imaging response rate of 100%, with all patients involved having tumour shrinkage on either their first or second surveillance scan 👏
10/02/2026
Providing more care outside hospital for people with cancer is one of the core ambitions in the new National Cancer Plan for England. It’s something we are deeply committed to here at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre, which is why we’re helping people with cancer to avoid A&E, where possible, when they feel unwell. We’re working with primary and community care, 111 and other hospitals to make it much easier for people with cancer to get specialist support when they need urgent or emergency care. It’s part of the urgent cancer care programme led by Cheshire and Merseyside Cancer Alliance.
Patricia Curtis, from Wirral, benefited from the new services after using our 24/7 Hotline for people on anti-cancer treatment or who recently completed it. The Hotline team of specialist cancer clinicians were able to assess Patricia’s condition and refer her to urgent care services instead of A&E.
Patricia said: “I can’t fault the support I have had when I needed urgent care for my cancer. When you have something like a cough or cold, you know what to do but when you have cancer it’s something you just don’t know about. It’s great to have a service like the Hotline that you can call for advice if you aren’t sure what to do.
“Last December, I started feeling really unwell and wasn’t sure if it was just side effects from my chemotherapy or something more serious. I called the Hotline at Clatterbridge and they were able to refer me to same day emergency care. I was seen and had all my tests in the Urgent Medical Assessment Unit at Arrowe Park instead of having to go to A&E, which was fantastic. It turned out I had a type of sepsis that people can get when they are on cancer treatment so I was admitted to hospital. I thought it was brilliant to be seen, have my tests and be admitted to hospital without going to A&E.”
Family member Rosie Davies has also called the Hotline when Patricia has been unwell and needed urgent advice. She said:
“Having a service like the Hotline where you can speak to someone knowledgeable who can triage calls and make sure you get the help you need is just wonderful. I have rung through on two separate occasions and the doctor on the Hotline was fantastic. She asked relevant questions to find out more and arranged, in the first situation, an admission to the Clinical Decisions Unit (CDU) where prompt emergency care was administered. If the Hotline service had not been available, our only option would have been to self-present to A&E at our local hospital.
“The second time we called, the doctor was able to refer and link us in with community care, arranging for someone from the community team to come to Pat’s home to do blood tests. It showed she had an infection, so the Hotline doctor arranged for Pat to go to the Urgent Medical Assessment Centre at Arrowe Park for further tests and antibiotics. It meant she didn’t have to go to A&E to get diagnosed and the care she needs.
“I cannot express how beneficial it is to be able to link in with a team who is not only knowledgeable and professional but also able to provide advice and a plan of care. Navigating health services can be so difficult, even when you work in healthcare. Everything can feel very overwhelming and scary. The Hotline emergency triage service is an essential part of cancer care and as a family we feel very grateful to the whole team.”
Thank you so much, Patricia and Rosie, for sharing your story.
The NHS in Cheshire and Merseyside is determined to keep improving access to specialist urgent and emergency cancer care.
Photos: Patricia / Patricia with Rosie
09/02/2026
Are you looking to better your knowledge and understanding of cancer care in a supportive environment?
Ran in partnership with University of Liverpool's School of Allied Health Professions and Nursing, our Clinical Education team's upcoming April 2026 module The Cancer Survivor: Developing practice supporting those living with the consequences of cancer and cancer treatment can help to enhance your skills and confidence!
This module has been created to provide an opportunity for learners to critically appraise the contemporary context of cancer survivorship and the associated wider agendas and policy drivers with critical alignment to practice and service.
Module delivery: Part-time delivery, with the module delivered in one semester. The module runs in semester three.
Key dates and application information
• Module start date: 21st April 2026
• Cost: £1300 (20 credits)
Who is the module for?
The module is designed for practising, registered healthcare professionals. The module is a standalone option and can be used to support continuous professional development.
Wondering how the new National Cancer Plan for England relates to our work here at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre? Our Chief Executive Joan Spencer shares her reflections in this short blog, explaining our commitment to delivering the ambitions set out in the National Cancer Plan and what we are already doing:
On Wednesday 4 February (World Cancer Day), the Government published an ambitious 10-year National Cancer Plan for England.
Its core commitments include: taking action to prevent people getting cancer in the first place; making sure that people with cancer are diagnosed faster and more patients can access the most advanced and effective treatments; improving outcomes and productivity through AI, genomics, and other innovations; and supporting people to live better with cancer.
The National Cancer Plan also promises every patient a personalised cancer care plan, along with more access to specialist cancer care outside hospital and in underserved areas, and a greater focus on rare cancers and cancer in children and young people.
As one of the UK’s three specialist cancer centres, we care deeply about providing the very best care for everyone with cancer and take our responsibility very seriously.
Many of the Cancer Plan’s ambitions build on what we already do at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre to deliver specialist cancer care for the people of Cheshire and Merseyside, the Isle of Man and beyond.
In 2014, we were the first hospital in England to provide a ‘treatment at home’ service, with specially-trained cancer nurses giving patients systemic anti-cancer therapies such as chemotherapy and immunotherapy in their home or workplace, reducing the need for them to go to hospital. We have continued to innovate in this way – for example, patients on some treatments such as denosumab can now give themselves their own injections at home, if they choose, after being taught how to do it by their nurse.
Our Ambicare service means people on some high-risk treatments that used to require an inpatient stay can now receive their care as daycase patients. They can go home each evening, supported by remote monitoring by their clinical team and rapid access to triage, assessment and any care they need if they feel unwell.
The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre is also a bedrock of innovation, pioneering new services, technologies and treatments and embedding them into our clinical practice. Examples include our research excellence (including cancer vaccines), our groundbreaking immuno-oncology toxicities service, our acute oncology and urgent cancer care programme, the use of AI to support treatment planning, and our continued investment in technology and major medical equipment such as diagnostics and radiotherapy treatment machines.
We offer patients holistic needs assessments and care conversations with cancer support workers or clinical nurse specialists so we can arrange personalised support, tailored to their own unique circumstances. The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre is a national leader in enhanced supportive care and supportive oncology, helping patients to live better during and after treatment – and to stay on treatment for longer by preventing or managing any side effects.
We also recognise the huge financial toll that a cancer diagnosis can place on individuals and their families. That’s why we are so proud of the support our Macmillan Benefits Advice team provide to those patients most in need, helping them access any financial assistance and benefits they are entitled to receive. In 2024/25, the team helped 2,356 patients access just over £6m of financial support.
The National Cancer Plan calls on all of us with an interest in cancer care to drive improved outcomes and experience, ensuring 3 in 4 people diagnosed with cancer are cancer-free or living well with cancer five years after their diagnosis.
At The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre, that describes our core purpose, our heart and everything we care about – providing exceptional, personalised care to every patient, while driving improved outcomes and experience through our unique network of care for the people of Cheshire and Merseyside and beyond.
06/02/2026
World Cancer Day earlier this week, gave us chance to pause and reflect on the year behind us. Today, we’re proud to share our Year in Numbers – a snapshot of the impact we've made together:
- We serve a population of 2.4 million people
- We have 2,016 staff and 35 volunteers
- We cared for 39,326 individual people
- We saw 14,196 new patients
- There were 5,947 day case appointments
- Patients attended 91,412 outpatient chemotherapy appointments
- We delivered 31,888 radiology scans
-Patients attended 98,216 outpatient radiotherapy appointments
Behind every number is a patient, a family and a team delivering care when it matters most. From outpatient appointments and scans, to treatments and trials, and the incredible teams who make it all possible - each of these figures reflect our commitment to delivering the best possible cancer care for our patients 💚
Be the first to know and let us send you an email when The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.
The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust is one of the UK’s leading cancer centres providing highly specialist cancer care to a population of 2.3m people across Cheshire, Merseyside and the surrounding areas including the Isle of Man.
We are based in Wirral, Merseyside supported by a £17m radiotherapy treatment centre in Aintree, Liverpool. We also operate specialist chemotherapy clinics in seven of Merseyside’s district hospitals and deliver a pioneering Treatment at Home service.
Together, this enables us to provide a comprehensive range of inpatient care, advanced radiotherapy, chemotherapy and other systemic anti-cancer therapies (i.e. medicines) including gene therapies and immunotherapies. We are also the only facility in the UK providing low-energy proton beam therapy to treat rare eye cancers and host the region’s Teenage and Young Adult Unit, (supported by the Teenage Cancer Trust).
We are a tertiary cancer centre which means we see patients who have already been diagnosed and referred to us by other hospitals. We provide non-surgical cancer care e.g. chemotherapy and radiotherapy for solid tumours and blood cancers.
Our services include:
Academic oncology – professors and senior clinical lecturers appointed jointly with the University of Liverpool
Acute oncology – specialist cancer support in A&E and acute care in other hospitals
Chemotherapy and other systemic anti-cancer treatments (SACT). These are drug treatments for cancer and include gene therapies, immunotherapies and other molecular agents
Haemato-oncology – in July 2017 the management of the Royal Liverpool University Hospital’s Haemato-oncology service transferred to The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre. This service provides inpatient and outpatient care for acute leukaemia; chronic leukaemia; lymphoma; myeloma and bone marrow (stem cell) transplant
Eye proton therapy – we have the UK’s only low-energy proton beam therapy facility for treating rare eye tumours
Imaging and pre-treatment radiotherapy (diagnostic imaging / treatment planning) – we have PET-CT, CT, MRI, x-ray facilities and treatment planning
Inpatient wards – we have 73 inpatient beds across our three wards on our Wirral site
Pharmacy – we manufacture all the chemotherapy doses for solid tumour cancers in Cheshire & Merseyside
Physics – our physicists provide essential scientific support for radiotherapy treatment
Radiotherapy – we have 10 linear accelerators (radiotherapy treatment machines). Six at the Wirral site; three at the Aintree site; one in the Clatterbridge Private Clinic
Research & development – we carry out leading-edge clinical trials of new cancer treatments. Our BioBank of donated tissue provides a valuable resource for cancer researchers
Supportive care – including physiotherapy, psychological support, palliative care, speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, dietetics, cancer information, financial / benefits advice, and survivorship / living with and beyond cancer
Triage & assessment – we provide rapid-access assessment clinics and 24-hour phone support for patients who need urgent advice or care while having cancer treatment
We are expanding and improving cancer care even further with the development of a new 11-floor specialist cancer hospital in the heart of Liverpool. The new cancer hospital is due to open in 2020 and will provide highly-specialist cancer care for people with blood cancers and solid tumours. Although the Liverpool hospital will become our main base, we will also continue providing services at our current site in Wirral and our satellite radiotherapy centre on the Aintree site.
Being located in central Liverpool alongside the University of Liverpool and Royal Liverpool University Hospital will significantly improve care for people with cancer:
Our main base will be closer to the majority of the population we serve, which stretches from Southport down to Wirral and across to Widnes / Warrington. People who live closer to Wirral / Aintree will still be able to access care locally as we’re keeping our current sites
Unlike now, we will be co-located with a major acute teaching hospital providing rapid access to intensive care and other key medical and surgical specialties when patients need them. At the moment these patients have to be transferred by emergency ambulance to other hospitals
We will be at the heart of a thriving research and healthcare campus with the University of Liverpool, NHS and other key research partners, enabling even more ground breaking cancer research and clinical trials.
You can find out more about the new building here.
