Four NHS trusts in the South West been awarded excellence status by the Tessa Jowell brain cancer mission for providing excellence in patient treatment, care and research. North Bristol NHS Trust (NBT), University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust, Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust, which are part of the Bristol Network, will play a leading role in accelerating innovation, sharing their knowledge and expertise with other NHS centres to help improve care across the UK. They are among 6 centres in England to receive recognition.

To be considered for this award, centres implemented specific feedback from the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission (TJBCM) and made a range of service improvements over a period of 18 months. Highlights include: better access to biobanking, increased nurse staffing, improved provision of care for low grade tumour patients, new nurse-led clinics, further specialised neurosurgery services, quicker turnaround of key diagnostic tests and improved access to rehabilitation services.

This initiative is part of TJBCM’s national mission to ensure every patient has access to excellent care, no matter where they live. With the addition of six new centres, there are now 17 Centres of Excellence across the UK.

Due to the combined catchment area of these six centres, a further 14 million people now have access to excellent care should they need it, with the centres jointly treating more than 1,000 new brain tumour patients per year.

Elizabeth O’Mahony, South West Regional Director, NHS England and NHS Improvement said: “I would like to congratulate the teams involved for their dedication. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, staff have worked hard to improve the services and wrap around care that they provide to brain tumour patients. The Centre of Excellence recognition is a fantastic achievement and will enable them to continue to provide excellent care.”

Cara Charles-Barks, Chief Executive at the Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We are honoured to have been awarded the Tessa Jowell Centre of Excellence as part of the Bristol Network. Through working together, the Network has transformed brain cancer services in the South West, ensuring our patients receive the highest quality personalised care. The award is testament to the dedication of our teams who have worked so hard to drive forward improvements to enhance the care patients receive throughout their brain cancer treatment journey.”

Founded in 2018 to lead a new national strategy for brain tumours, the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission has led the national assessment for the Tessa Jowell Centres of Excellence, and is committed to help all UK centres achieve ‘excellence’ status in the future.