Nottingham announced as a Tessa Jowell Centre of Excellence | Latest news

The East Midlands Neuro-Oncology service, which supports patients across the region with brain tumours, has been awarded the prestigious Centre of Excellence status for clinical care and research by the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission (TJBCM). 

The service, which includes Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH), is one of 14 newly announced centres.  

This prestigious award is given to a limited number of Brain Tumour teams in hospitals throughout the UK and NUH is now one of only two Trusts in the UK to have a Centre of Excellence designation for both adults and children with brain tumours.

The East Midlands remains one of the busiest Neuro-Oncology services in the UK, operating on more than 500 new brain tumour patients per year, with many more managed non-operatively (conservative management, stereotactic radiosurgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy). The service has the shortest waiting times in the UK for brain tumour patients, ensuring that tumours progress as little as possible before treatment.

Brain tumours affect over 11,000 adults in the UK every year and kill more people under the age of 40 than any other cancer. In the absence of a cure, the TJBCM has committed since 2020 to ensuring all UK patients with a brain tumour can have access to the best standard of treatment, care and research, through the Tessa Jowell Centre of Excellence initiative.

Teams representing each of these networks were presented their awards at a ceremony on the 15 May by Jess Mills, Tessa Jowell’s daughter and TJBCM co-founder. Reflecting on the newly awarded centres, Jess said: “Mum’s legacy to transform outcomes for brain cancer patients across the UK has reached another huge milestone. It has been so moving to witness how committed the teams caring for patients are to come on this journey with us.”

Stuart Smith, NUH Neurosurgery Consultant, said: “The East Midlands Brain Tumour Service, co-ordinated from Nottingham University Hospitals, is very pleased to have been awarded Tessa Jowell Centre of Excellence status for adult brain tumour care and research. This is a real testament to the hard work and enthusiasm of a dedicated and varied group of professionals committed to improving the situation for people facing the news of a brain tumour diagnosis T hrough initiatives such as ultra-rapid Nanopore genetic sequencing to reduce time taken for diagnosis from eight weeks to one week, we are always striving to improve patient care.” 

Professor Richard Gilbertson, Chair of the TJBCM and Chair of Oncology at the University of Cambridge, said “The Centre of Excellence programme continues to give us an unprecedented view of the treatment, care and research of brain tumours in the UK; we now know better than ever where the NHS is excelling, but also where we need to come together to collectively address national challenges.” 

To find out more about the awards visit the TJBCM website .