The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust is one of the UK’s leading cancer centres
05/12/2025
After 30 years working in the world of banking, Vivienne felt the need for a change, joining the Trust as a clerk before progressing to receptionist.
She's now one of our fab service coordinators, ensuring our zoledronic acid bone strengthening infusion (Zol for short!) clinics run smoothly and our patients always feel supported.
"The most rewarding aspect of my role is hearing relief in a patient’s voice - like when I was able to move a patient’s appointment so they didn’t have to drive in rush hour traffic. Those small changes can make someone’s day, and that makes mine too."
Read more about Vivienne, our coordinator queen, on our website 👉 https://orlo.uk/xV8UJ
04/12/2025
There are exciting changes on the way for PET-CT scans at CCC, as one of our scanners makes way for a new, ultra-modern replacement with vastly-improved image quality and a much faster scan time.
The PET-CT scanner at CCC-Wirral retires today (4 December) having reached the end of its useful working life after almost 10 years of service. When it officially launched in March 2016, it was a hugely exciting development for cancer care in our region. PET-CT scans provide detailed 3-D images inside the body that can show where cells are more active than usual.
There are now 3 PET-CT scanners in Cheshire and Merseyside, including one at our main hospital in Liverpool (CCC-Liverpool).
The preparations for the new scanner mean that for the next few months:
• There will be no PET-CT service at CCC-Wirral, while our teams are hard at work preparing for the new scanner.
• Instead, all PET-CT scans will be in Liverpool until the new PET-CT scanner at CCC-Wirral launches in Spring 2026.
• We are increasing capacity at our CCC-Liverpool PET-CT scanner to accommodate the extra work from CCC-Wirral.
• This means we do not expect any change in waiting times for PET-CT scans.
And the new PET-CT scanner at CCC-Wirral will definitely be worth the wait when it launches in a few months’ time. CCC-Wirral will have the UK’s first state-of-the-art Siemens Biograph Trinion PET-CT scanner, boasting the very latest technology. The new scanner will:
• Deliver vastly improved imaging and a better patient experience
• Reduce average scan times from 25 minutes to around 7 minutes
• Significantly increase PET-CT capacity at CCC-Wirral, enabling around 17 appointments per day compared with 10 on the current scanner
Louise Bunby, Divisional Director for Radiation Services at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre, said:
“The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre has long been a leader in providing patients with the most innovative and advanced new imaging technology. We’re delighted that CCC-Wirral is to become the first hospital in the UK with the new Siemens Biograph Trinion PET-CT scanner, which we expect to launch by the end of Spring 2026. This will significantly increase NHS PET-CT capacity in the North West so we can deliver even more of these vital scans for patients from across the region as well as here at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre.”
Dr Ruth Brown, Consultant Radiologist and PET-CT ARSAC licence holder at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre, said:
“The replacement of the Wirral PET-CT will allow The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre to continue to provide a key diagnostic service for both oncologic and non-oncologic assessments. As this new installation can acquire scans faster without compromising on image quality, we will be helping facilitate timely diagnostic scans in the region both for both inpatients and the outpatients we serve.”
Look out for updates on CCC-Wirral's new PET-CT scanner over the next few months!
Photo credits:
Huge thanks to the fabulous Bev Atherton for the archive inages.
New scanner image: Siemens Healthineers
03/12/2025
Did you spot us on the BBC last night 📺 ?
News of our pioneering Papillon treatment for re**al cancer patients being recommended by National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) featured on last night’s BBC North West Tonight. The team came along to chat to Professor Arthur Sun Myint, who brought the technique over to the UK from Switzerland in 1993. Professor Myint has lead a five-year clinical study called OPERA, which discovered that Papillon, when combined with chemo and radiotherapy, could significantly improve the quality of life for patients with early-stage re**al cancer, by avoiding the need for surgery and potentially a stoma bag.
The feature also featured our patient Sharon, who was part of the OPERA study and is now cancer-free and back to normal life, following treatment. A huge thank you to her for taking part in the filming and helping to promote our work here at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre.
Read more about Papillon and the OPERA study on our website.
03/12/2025
Did you spot us on the BBC last night?
News of our pioneering Papillon treatment for re**al cancer patients being recommended by National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) featured on last night's BBC North West Tonight. The team came along to chat to Professor Arthur Sun Myint, who brought the technique over to the UK from Switzerland in 1993. Professor Myint has lead a five-year clinical study called OPERA, which discovered that Papillon, when combined with chemo and radiotherapy, could significantly improve the quality of life for patients with early-stage re**al cancer, by avoiding the need for surgery and potentially a stoma bag.
The feature also featured our patient Sharon, who was part of the OPERA study and is now cancer-free and back to normal life, following treatment. A huge thank you to her for taking part in the filming and helping to promote our work here at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre.
Read more about Papillon and the OPERA study on our website via the link in the comments.
02/12/2025
Patients with re**al cancer may now be offered a non-surgical form of treatment, pioneered by The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recently recommended that Papillon, a form of x-ray brachytherapy or CXB, can be offered to eligible patients as an alternative to surgery. Not having surgery means patients would potentially avoid the need for a stoma later in life.
Papillon was pioneered in the UK by Professor Sunny Myint (pictured), Clinical Oncologist at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre. Professor Myint has led a clinical trial called OPERA, which discovered that the Papillon technique, when used in combination with chemo and radiotherapy, substantially improves quality of life for patients with early-stage re**al cancer by avoiding the potential need for a stoma.
Sharon Price (pictured with her husband Nathan) is one patient who was successfully treated on the clinical trial. Sharon said: "“It is fantastic news that this treatment is now set to be offered across the NHS to patients in the position I was in. I was very fortunate to have the chance to take part in the clinical trial as I am now back to work fully and my life is back to normal – which may not have been the case if I’d had surgery and a stoma to cope with."
Read more on our website via the link in the comments.
02/12/2025
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29/11/2025
A new children’s cancer service has been launched for Merseyside and Cheshire, taking chemotherapy to patients’ homes, with funding from the Cancer Alliance.
The North West Children’s Cancer Operational Delivery Network and Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust have launched the new model of children’s cancer treatment, bringing chemotherapy and other care directly into the homes of patients.
The Care Closer To Home pilot project will transform how children and young people with cancer receive treatment, reducing travel, stress, and time away from home, school, and family life.
This , our amazing Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary (HPB) Team is raising awareness about pancreatic cancer, its risk factors, the signs and symptoms to look out for, and the importance of early detection.
While anyone can develop pancreatic cancer, your risk increases with age, smoking, diabetes, or a history of pancreatitis.
Common signs and symptoms to look out for include:
- Pain in the upper abdomen or back
- Loss of appetite or unexplained weight loss
- Fatigue or nausea
- Indigestion
- Recently diagnosed diabetes
- Jaundice
If you have any concerns or are worried about these symptoms, please speak to your GP.
For more information about pancreatic cancer, click the link in the comments.
28/11/2025
If you had treatment for cancer at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre between April and June 2025, you might be invited to take part in the National Cancer Patient Experience Survey.
The survey asks cancer patients (16 years and older) about their experiences of care. Their feedback helps to improve cancer services across England.
If you had treatment with us as an inpatient or day-case and left hospital between April and June 2025, you may get a letter asking you to take part. The letter will include more information.
At The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre, we really welcome your feedback. We hope that you will complete the survey if you are asked to take part. We are keen to hear about your experience of chemotherapy (or other cancer medicines) at any of our sites, radiotherapy at our 3 main sites, our inpatient wards in Liverpool and our other services.
You can complete the survey online, on paper or over the phone. It’s also available in other languages and formats.
Lindsey Dawson, Acting Chief Nurse at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre, said: “Your feedback is so important to us so we would really encourage you to tell us what we did well and what we could have done better.
If you're invited to take part, please complete the National Cancer Patient Experience Survey to help us and future Clatterbridge patients.”
27/11/2025
Merseyside freelance designer Phil Alderson was shocked to be diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 44 – now he is in remission and warning other men that they can get breast cancer too.
“The feeling of being told I had cancer will stay with me forever,” said Phil, speaking during men’s health month, Movember, to stress that early detection of the disease is vital for the chance of successful treatment.
Yesterday, The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre hosted its annual Consultants Away Day— where our consultants came together to reflect on the past year, look ahead to the future, and draw inspiration as the Trust continues its mission to deliver outstanding care for our patients. This year’s theme, Delivering Excellence in Cancer Care, set the tone for a day which included lots of thoughtful discussion, insight and a few laughs.
Thank you to our guest speakers, Dr Mumtaz Patel, President of Royal College of Phyisicans and Dr Nicky Thorpe, a former Clatterbridge consultant, whose work now includes being Vice President of Royal College of Radiologists. We also hosting a thought-provoking Schwartz round, discussing the emotional impact of working in cancer care, and some of our consultants were awarded by our Divisional Directors for their outstanding contribution this year.
The day also featured a dedicated session for our Educational and Clinical Supervisors, recognised by the General Medical Council (GMC). This session supports our supervisors in providing the very best experience for our resident doctors in training, helping us strive for gold-standard medical education. We’re incredibly proud of the positive feedback we receive from our trainees about their teaching experiences at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre.
This year’s event was generously sponsored by Novartis—our sincere thanks for their support.
Thank you to all our consultants who joined us and made the day such a success.
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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.
