Frequently asked questions about our plans for the future children's cancer services

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.

No, the Principal Treatment Centre delivering cancer treatment for children in south London and south east England is not closing. It will be moving to Evelina London Children's Hospital.

The current Principal Treatment Centre (PTC) is mostly located at The Royal Marsden in Sutton, but it does not have the facilities needed to meet the NHS's new requirements.

Most of the staff at the current centre will be moving to the new location at Evelina London, meaning children and their families will continue to be supported by the clinicians they know and trust.

The centre needs to move to a new location because the Royal Marsden does not have a 'Level 3' Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU). A PICU is a mandatory requirement of the new national clinical standards for Principal Treatment Centres. These requirements were agreed in 2021 after a consultation with patients, families, and professionals. A PICU is essential for delivering the newest and most complex cancer treatments, as well as providing a vital service if a child becomes seriously unwell because of their treatment. The current PTC does not comply with these standards.

No, ULEZ and Congestion Charge costs will be fully reimbursed. Evelina London will also provide free, bookable parking, so families can focus on their children. We also have a range of other travel support schemes to make reaching us as easy as possible.

The current children’s cancer centre at The Royal Marsden in Sutton is in the ULEZ charging area. Evelina London and St George’s Hospital are also within the ULEZ charging area.

Yes, we'll provide free, bookable parking spaces for the new children’s cancer centre. The number of spaces will at least match the number available at the current centre. You can also drive directly to the front door of the hospital.

We'll also have a fleet of 12 cars that will collect children and their families from their home (wherever that is), bring them to the hospital, and take them home afterwards.

Yes, we're well connected to the main road and train lines for the whole region that the children’s cancer centre will serve.

While some families will have a slightly longer journey, many families (particularly those living in Kent and Sussex) will find it much easier to reach us. To help everyone, we'll offer free, bookable parking spaces and pay ULEZ and Congestion Charges.

We'll also have a fleet of 12 cars that will collect children and their families from their home (wherever that is), bring them to the hospital, and take them home afterwards.

We're also exceptionally well connected by public transport for family members visiting a loved one. This includes being about 10 minutes from London Waterloo and 15 minutes from London Victoria, the 2 main train stations connecting the region. 

Yes, as part of NHS England's plan to move the centre, most of the expert clinical teams will also move with it. This means children and their families will continue to be supported by the clinicians they already know and trust.

Yes, both The Royal Marsden and Evelina London use the same digital patient care record system (known as 'Epic'). This means patient records can be instantly shared between both hospitals with the click of a button.

The 'Epic' patient record system is also used by the new central radiotherapy centre at University College Hospital, as well as by King’s College Hospital (neurosurgery) and Great Ormond Street Hospital (under 1s). This means that Evelina London is already setup to seamlessly join this children's cancer care network and deliver the consistent, high-quality care that patients rely on.

Yes, Evelina London already cares for some children living with cancer. Evelina London is part of Guy's and St Thomas' Foundation Trust which already delivers cutting-edge cancer clinical trials, and sits within the same Trust as Guys’ Cancer Centre.

We already work with the current children's cancer centre to detect and manging heart and kidney complications arising from cancer treatments. We also provide the intensive care ambulance service that transfers seriously ill children with cancer around the region, making sure children receive highly specialist care where and when they need it.

NHS England independently assessed Evelina London as having the best potential for enhancing children’s cancer research. This is based on our international reputation as a children’s health research leader, and our expertise in cancer research for adults which is delivered by the specialist Guy's Cancer Centre (part of the same Trust that runs Evelina London) and through our partnership with King's College London.

For example, we're carrying out the first ever clinical trial of a new class of immunotherapy, IgE antibodies, to see whether they could help patients who do not respond to existing cancer treatments.

Yes, Evelina London is far closer than the current centre to the specialist hospitals that will support the new children's cancer centre, and the new radiotherapy hub. This means children and families will have shorter and easier journeys to access the full range of cancer care services.

Evelina London already shares paediatric clinicians and research projects with the specialist hospitals that will support the new children's cancer centre, including working as 'one team' with King's College Hospital. King's currently provides 80% of the children cancer neurosurgery services.

Yes, Evelina London has many global research partnerships in place that are delivering breakthroughs in children's treatment and care.

Evelina London is part of Guy's and St Thomas', who already works very closely with King's College London (KCL), one of the top universities in the world for medical research, and has active research partnerships with the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR). Together with KCL, we have developed and delivered the type of cutting-edge therapies and clinical interventions that will be crucial to the future of children's cancer care.

This includes pioneering imaging studies that have advanced understanding of brain and heart function, ground-breaking clinical trials into peanut allergies, and we're carrying out the first ever clinical trial of a new class of cancer treating immunotherapy, IgE.

We have 2 dedicated research wards with the ability to deliver the earliest phase of clinical trials, so we can immediately begin new children's cancer clinical research studies and offer the latest immune therapies like CAR-T. When reviewing the 2 options for the new children’s cancer centre, NHS England independently assessed Evelina London as having the best potential for enhancing children's cancer research.

Yes, for school-age children and those staying with us for extended periods of time, we offer an Ofsted rated 'Outstanding' school based inside the hospital that works with specialist education and medical teams.

Yes, the hospital was created in partnership with children and families so it is bright, friendly and has plenty of places to play. Our wards are exciting and colourful spaces, and our specialist play team help children enjoy bedside magic, music, and adventures so they can relax.

Next year Evelina London will have access to an onsite cinema. This 160-seat cinema will show the latest box-office films and will be free for people staying at the hospital, including their families. To make sure everyone can enjoy the movie magic, the cinema will be accessible for children in wheelchairs or beds, and a team of nurses will provide medical supervision.

Yes, we have more experience supporting seriously ill children than any other hospital in our region, and everything we do is geared towards holistically helping children throughout their treatment.

We have 3,000 staff at Evelina London that work exclusively with children. No matter their role at the hospital, everyone is passionate about helping children access the treatment they need while continuing to grow, learn, and enjoy their childhood.

Yes, with one of the country’s largest children’s psychology services, which The Royal Marsden's psychology team would join, we'll support children and their families from diagnosis onwards with regular and ad-hoc counselling (including out of hours).

Parents will be involved throughout, and children and their families will be supported with the range of issues that commonly arise from such a difficult experience.

For the rare and extremely difficult times when a family loses a child, we have a dedicated, highly experienced and supportive palliative care team and bereavement service as well as holistic (emotional, spiritual and psychological) support.

Yes, we support many young people with complex health needs transition to adult services every year. Our approach was assessed as excellent by an independent panel of experts, as part of the options appraisal process.

Transition to adult services is very important, especially with the need for long-term monitoring and care for any late effects of treatment. We'd be flexible, providing continuity of care to make sure that the young person is fully supported throughout the transition, and would take a holistic approach addressing all needs including social and psychological support.

Yes, Evelina London has an extensive track record of working with hospitals across our region to improve the care of seriously unwell children, no matter where they live and receive treatment.

As the region's only specialist children’s hospital, Evelina London helps drive improvements in children's clinical care throughout the region, including through our leadership of the South Thames Paediatric Network. We provide virtual support, through online clinics, multidisciplinary team meetings and training, and we visit every hospital in the region to provide care. 

Our children's intensive care team travels to all hospitals in the region to look after and transfer the sickest children.

We run over 1,000 clinics a year in local hospitals throughout the region, bringing our specialist expertise closer to where children live. If we're chosen to deliver the new children’s cancer centre, we'll work with local hospitals to offer similar outreach services so more children living with cancer can be cared for in their communities.

Yes, we're committed to continuing to invest substantially in children's services, building on the £185 million already invested over the last 20 years, as we work to create a genuinely world-leading children's hospital.

No other Trust in the region has dedicated as much investment to specialist care for children than we have. We're going to continue investing in children’s clinical care, especially if we are chosen to be the new children's cancer centre.

This includes buying a fleet of 12 cars to bring children to hospital and take them home afterwards, as well as expanding the number of specialist ambulances we have to support our home-to-hospital transport services.

We're already working on exciting and ambitious plans so that children in our region will have access to the very best services and infrastructure. We plan to create a world-leading campus for children, further invest in new clinical and research facilities and specialist children's diagnostics and treatment services. This plan is being backed by Guy's and St Thomas' Foundation to help us fund what will be a transformative addition to paediatric care services in south London and south east England.