Decision on future location of very specialist children’s cancer treatment centre

At the end 2023 we shared a consultation being held by NHS England (London and South East regions) about the future location of very specialist cancer treatment services for children living in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, Kent, Medway, south London, and most of Surrey.

The consultation ran for 12-weeks from Tuesday 26th September to Monday 18th December 2023.

The findings from this consultation and the feedback were independently analysed and written up into a report, which was published in January 2024 and can be found on the consultation’s dedicated webpage.

What now? 

Following the consultation and the publication of the report a decision has now been made.

Evelina London Children’s Hospital has been chosen as the future location for the Children’s Cancer Centre for south London and much of the south east of England.

This is the decision of leaders for NHS England (London and South East regions), taken at their decision making meeting on 14 March 2024.

A specialist children’s hospital which treats 120,000 children a year, Evelina London’s wide range of services, support for hospitals across its catchment area to look after poorly young patients, and strong performance in research are just some of the factors that showed it is the right place for the future Children’s Cancer Centre. Its experienced, expert teams will work with The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which provide the current centre, to minimise disruption for patients and ensure a smooth handover.

As part of this move, it was agreed that conventional radiotherapy services will in future be provided at University College Hospital in central London.

More information is available on NHS England’s website here.