Future children's cancer services

I'm Sara Hanna, and I'm medical director of Evelina London. At Evelina London, we have been passionate about providing the best possible care to children and their families for more than 150 years.

We can do this because of our 4,000 dedicated and compassionate staff spanning more than 30 specialist areas. No other children's hospital in the region offers that breadth and scale of expertise dedicated to children, and that's why we believe we are uniquely placed to deliver care to those children with cancer who require the most complex treatment.

We have 50 specialist children's surgeons operating within 10 theatres, more children in research studies than any hospital in London, and our exceptional facilities mean our teams can extend pioneering research of new cancer therapies to children.

We have the region's only kidney and heart services undertaking the most complex operations and 24/7 access to child-friendly, state-of-the-art imaging facilities, some of which are not found elsewhere in the UK.

Our critical care transport service safely moves the sickest children from their local hospitals for intensive care, including children with cancer. Our doctors and nurses provide advice, education, and training to every hospital in the region so treatment can start even before our teams arrive.

The design of the hospital was inspired by children and families, bright and friendly spaces, with plenty of places to play. We have overnight accommodation for 60 families in our Ronald McDonald House.

We will design the cancer facility, including dedicated parking and a transport service, together with families and staff. Our Trust has a long history of cancer services at Guy's Hospital, already treating teenagers and young adults.

We believe we will provide the best care for children and young people with cancer and the highly skilled staff that support them.

As the region's only dedicated children's hospital, we really understand how tough it is to be the family member of a seriously unwell child, and how important it is that children can easily access the specialist care they need.

We also know that parents and patients might be anxious about what the proposed changes to the Principal Treatment Centre may mean for their care.

We want to help put their minds at ease.

The current children's cancer service is not closing.

It is moving to a new hospital.

The vast majority of the existing children's team at the Royal Marsden will move too, meaning children and their families will continue to be supported by the clinicians they know and they trust.

At Evelina London we already care for children with cancer.

We provide specialist heart and kidney care to the current Principal Treatment Centre, and our Intensive Care Ambulance Team transfers the sickest children with cancer between hospitals, including transferring children between the Royal Marsden and St George's.

As well as state-of-the-art facilities, our plans involve making travelling to the new centre as worry-free as possible.

This includes a fleet of cars that will collect children from their homes wherever they live, bring them to the hospital and drive them safely home afterwards.

There will also be free, bookable parking for families who travel in their own car, a drop-off zone right outside the door and hassle-free reimbursement of ULEZ and congestion charging.

Moving the Children's Cancer Centre provides a once-in-a-generation opportunity to build on what the exceptional teams at the Royal Marsden already do.

Evelina London is the only option that can offer children access to a broad range of paediatric experts 24 hours a day, and we have been independently assessed as offering the best opportunity to advance children's cancer research.

Bringing the Principal Treatment Centre to Evelina London will mean that children with cancer in our region will benefit from being cared for in a dedicated children's hospital, just like every other child with cancer in the UK.

This is what children in our region deserve.