Children's cancer public consultation – Have your say

NHS England has launched a public consultation, closing on 18 December 2023, that will influence the final decision on whether our region's children’s cancer services will move to Evelina London Children's Hospital or St George's Hospital.

We would like to encourage everybody who cares about the future of these important specialist services to share their views. You can find out more about the consultation and how to respond on the NHS England website.

Specialist children's cancer services for our region are currently provided by The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust. Each year, a number of children with cancer or who have survived cancer also receive care from Evelina London's specialist services.

We fully support NHS England's position that the children's cancer Principal Treatment Centre (PTC) must move to a site that provides both intensive care support for children and other specialist children's services.

Evelina London is the preferred provider at this stage in the process. Our proposal was independently assessed by over 30 experts and scored higher in 3 out of the 4 areas assessed, including how we would deliver the clinical service and our capability and track record for vital clinical research.

We believe Evelina London is uniquely placed to provide the best care, research and support to children and young people with cancer and their families:

World-class

Evelina London is the only option that will mean the new children's cancer centre is based at a dedicated children's hospital, aligning our region with the rest of the country and international best practice, thereby ensuring children and their families have access to the best possible clinical expertise. 

Clinical research

We can immediately begin new children's cancer clinical research studies and offer the latest immune therapies like CAR-T, both essential for the future of children's cancer care. We have 2 dedicated children's research wards and a specialist children's research team already working on more than 180 children's research studies with academic partners worldwide.

Family support

We understand how tough it is to be the family member of a seriously unwell child. To support families, we will offer free, dedicated parking for the new children's cancer centre, support with the cost of travel, and free overnight accommodation, including 60 rooms in our dedicated Ronald McDonald House. 

Connected

Our children's intensive care ambulance service looks after some of the sickest children in south east England, making sure they are in the right place to receive the highly specialist care they need. We also deliver over 1,000 clinics a year in local hospitals, bringing our specialist expertise closer to where children live, while our clinical education team help to train staff at every other hospital in the region.

NHS England - London will make its final decision on the location of the new centre after hearing the views that come forward during the public consultation, and taking account of all other relevant factors.

No decision will be made until the public consultation has concluded, feedback has been reviewed and all relevant information taken into consideration. Services are not expected to move before 2026.

Responding to the consultation

You can find out more about our proposal and watch a short video from our Medical Director, Dr Sara Hanna, talking about Evelina London's current services on the Evelina London website.

To access the NHS England - London public consultation and share your views, visit the NHS England website.

We believe Evelina London's proposal is a once in a generation opportunity to bring together leading children's cancer experts with our existing world-class specialist paediatric teams to create the comprehensive children's hospital our region needs and deserves.