Since being selected by NHS England as the future location of children's cancer services for south London and much of south east England, we've started detailed work to prepare for the safe transfer of the existing services from The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
It's essential to us that we involve children and families in every aspect of this move, as well as the passionate and expert staff in the current services and our colleagues at Evelina London. It's by working together, involving, listening and co-designing that we will build on all the strengths of the current service and make the most of everything we have to offer for children and families.
There are lots of ways to get involved in shaping our cancer services, including in-person and virtual workshops, visits and surveys. Visit our get involved page to sign up to receive updates and find out about upcoming opportunities.
See our online report about how we have involved patients and families in the RIBA Stage 2 early design phase.
Boards and advisory groups
Our team and partners have set out the programme of work that will lead to the safe transfer of services. That programme includes governance in the form of boards and advisory groups who will meet to make sure the programme is well delivered, stays on track and that the voices of patients and families are heard.
We're involving patients and families in boards and advisory groups at all stages of planning and we are committed to ensuring that the people on these boards and groups are reflective of the families the future cancer services will serve.
We're still looking for patients and families to join our advisory groups. Find out what’s involved and how to join on our get involved page.
Programme Delivery Board
This board is helping us make sure the current children's cancer services are transferred to Evelina London safely and at the right time.
This board includes 2 parents of children who were treated at The Royal Marsden and a representative from the charity Young Lives vs Cancer, as well as senior representatives from all NHS organisations involved.
Partnership Advisory Board
This board is chaired by the Chief Executive of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and has been set up specifically to help us make sure patients and their families are involved in our plans.
This board includes:
- 8 patient representatives with experience of care at The Royal Marsden, St George's Hospital, King's College Hospital or Evelina London Children's Hospital
- representatives from cancer charities Young Lives Vs Cancer and Solving Kids Cancer
- representatives from Healthwatch Southwark and Healthwatch Brighton, with an open invitation to Healthwatches representing other areas. Healthwatch is an independent champion for health and social care services, there is a local Healthwatch in every area of England.
Clinical Advisory Group
This is a group of young people and family members who are helping us make sure families' experiences influence decisions about treatment and care.
The group includes 4 family members of children and young people who have experienced children's cancer services or children's specialist services at Evelina London and a representative from cancer charity Young Lives Vs Cancer.
The group meets every 2 months for up to 2 hours.
Interested in joining this group? Find out more on our get involved page.
Travel, Access and Accommodation Advisory Group
This is a group of young people and family members who are helping us identify needs and make decisions about travel and how families access the service and accommodation.
This group includes 5 family members of children and young people who have experienced children's cancer services or children's specialist services at Evelina London and a representative from cancer charity Young Lives Vs Cancer.
The group meets every 2 months for up to 2 hours.
Interested in joining this group? Find out more on our get involved page.
Design sessions
We're working with a team of architects and designers to create the right space and environment within Evelina London Children's Hospital for children and their families. We carried out a competitive appointment process and involved patient representatives and staff from the existing service in the decision-making. Read our web story about the appointment process for more information.
We've held online design sessions with patients and their families and visited the unit at The Royal Marsden to gather feedback on high-level floorplans for the children’s cancer ward, day treatment and outpatient spaces. We've also used detailed feedback from engagement sessions with staff and children's cancer charities and we're using this input to feed into our plans for the next stage of the design process.
A parent of a child previously treated at The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, Angus Tilbury has been helping us shape the future 
cancer services:
"This has been so rewarding. I really enjoy using my experience to help other families in the future get what they need.
I’m so moved by how committed everyone involved from The Royal Marsden, St George's and Evelina London is to delivering the safe and effective transfer of the children's cancer services. They all really care and it comes through in every part of this process."