A new model of children’s cancer treatment, delivering chemotherapy and supportive cancer treatments on a mobile cancer care unit, has been launched by Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT) and Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust.
This pilot project of a mobile cancer care unit is a partnership project between the North West Children’s Cancer Operational Delivery Network (NWCCODN) and the charity Hope for Tomorrow, who have provided the mobile unit. It is funded by the three Cancer Alliances within the North West (Greater Manchester Cancer Alliance, Cheshire and Merseyside Cancer Alliance and Lancashire and South Cumbria Cancer Alliance) and delivered by staff from MFT’s Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital and Alder Hey Children’s Hospital.
Around 600 children are treated for cancer in The North West region each year. Children, young people and their families across the North West of England face significant travel challenges to access specialist cancer care. Unlike adults, children and young people who are being treated for cancer must journey further due to the limited number of specialist centers. Families often travel hundreds of miles for treatment on multiple occasions. These journeys can place considerable time and financial pressures on families, with recent North West data showing an average monthly travel cost of £245 and an average one-way journey of 54 miles.
Hope for Tomorrow provide a fleet of mobile cancer care units that are used across the country to provide adult cancer care, however this is the first time one will be used to treat children and young people.
The unit will transform how children and young people with cancer receive treatment in Greater Manchester, Liverpool, Cheshire, South Lancashire, Cumbria and North Wales, leading to reduction in reducing travel, stress, and time away from home, school and family life and will complement existing services provided by local Paediatric Oncology Shared Care Units (POSCU) and Children’s Community Nursing Teams.
Nurses from the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital and Alder Hey Children’s Foundation Trust oncology units are now delivering treatments on the specially purposed mobile unit placed in community settings across the North West Region. Selected chemotherapy and supportive treatments, which are typically administered in a day case clinic will be delivered closer to a patient’s home.
Aligned with the NHS 10 Year Plan and the National Cancer Plan, Care Closer to Home (CC2H) is a proof-of-concept project funded by the regional Cancer Alliances and currently funded until July 2026. The project will be evaluated to understand the impact upon children receiving treatment for cancer and their families.
The nurses delivering the CC2H project bring a wealth of knowledge and experience from their work within the Paediatric Principal Treatment Centres, with comprehensive orientation and induction processes in place to ensure they are fully prepared for project delivery, service development, and the community based elements of the role.
The mobile cancer care unit will park in convenient locations assessed as safe and appropriate. Sites such as supermarkets and garden centers have been identified across the region.
Sohail Munshi, Joint Chief Medical Officer at MFT, said: “By working closely with our partners across the North West, we are helping to bring vital cancer care closer to home for children and their families. This first-of-its-kind-project is an important part of MFT’s commitment to reducing health inequalities, making treatment more accessible and more convenient for all communities we serve.”
The impact of care delivered in this way will be evaluated and presented to funders and those across the region responsible for providing care for children and young people with cancer. It is hoped that where a clear benefit can be demonstrated a more permanent solution may be agreed and put in place.
Professor Bernadette Brennan, Paediatric Oncologist and Lead Cancer Clinician at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, said: “When you look at our RMCH oncology outpatients and day case unit, you often see patients who have travelled more than 100 miles for a simple bolus chemotherapy treatment that takes only minutes. The new mobile unit will bring this care closer to home, reducing travel, cutting costs and significantly improving patients’ quality of life”.
