news@QEHB January 2017

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For patients, staff, visitors and volunteers

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JANUARY 2017

Page 5 National award for Fisher House

Page 13 Teamwork makes the grade

Get a healthy start Staff and visitors looking for a healthier start to the day can now opt for a continentalstyle breakfast at the Plaza restaurant on Level 1 in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham. The new-style breakfast will be on offer alongside the traditional full-cooked breakfast to give customers another choice. The new selection will include low fat yoghurt, prepared fruit in natural juice and crunchy granola cereals. Laura Clarke, Facilities – Deputy Catering Manager, said: “We are always keen to listen to the views of our customers who are increasingly interested in managing a healthy lifestyle. “We felt that at breakfast time, we could improve the options available to staff and visitors. Many people feel that January is the best time to start a healthier lifestyle and we want to make it as easy as possible to maintain healthy choices and get a good start to the day.” The continental-style range will be available to eat in and take away from 9 January, seven days per week, with the full-cooked breakfast on offer from 07:30–11:00.

Research to benefit cancer patients Scientists at the Trust are set to receive a major cash injection from Cancer Research UK (CRUK) as part of a national drive to accelerate advances in early detection and treatment. Experts at the CRUK Birmingham Centre will receive around £5 million over the next five years for their ground-breaking work, as part of the development of a unique chain of cutting-edge research hubs around the UK. A further £2 million will be spent on continuing research at the city’s Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre (ECMC). The funding will provide a boost to the region’s stellar collaboration across Birmingham Health Partners, the strategic alliance between the University of Birmingham and three major teaching hospitals; the Shelford Group member University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (UHBFT), Birmingham Children’s Hospital and Birmingham Women’s Hospital. The cash comes as CRUK announced the largest investment to date into its network of Centres across the UK. £190 million has been committed to 13 CRUK Centres over the next five years. It is part of a joint CRUK and Department of Health initiative investing £36 million over five years into 18 ECMCs. The extra funding to the CRUK Birmingham Centre and Birmingham ECMC is in addition

This huge investment is only made possible through generous donations from the public and the tireless fundraising of our supporters.” Sir Harpal Kumar to CRUK’s existing substantial investment in Birmingham’s CRUK Clinical Trials Unit. New funding will enable doctors and scientists across Birmingham Health Partners to work more closely together to help develop new treatment approaches and make them available to patients through clinical trials as quickly as possible. This includes extending the understanding of how and why cancers develop to aid the design of new drugs. “It will also support the development of personalised medicine where treatments are tailored to individual cancer patient’s needs. Professor Ben Willcox, Chair of Molecular Immunology at the University of Birmingham and Scientific Director of the new Centre, said: “We are delighted that Birmingham has been selected to be part of the CRUK Centre

and ECMC network. This will enable us to build on Birmingham Health Partners’ strong fundamental cancer research, excellent clinical resources, and expertise in clinical trials. “Our aligned Centre and ECMC will transform our ability to develop new approaches to cancer treatment and focus these on the patients most likely to respond.” Scientists at the CRUK Clinical Trials Unit in Birmingham are currently testing new drugs for lung cancer patients as part of the national Lung Matrix Trial, which recruits through the ECMC network. Sir Harpal Kumar, Chief Executive at CRUK, said: “This is an exciting time for cancer research. Emerging treatments like immunotherapy are radically changing the field, we are increasingly able to tailor more treatments to individual patients, and advances in technology mean we can collect and share more research data than ever before. “CRUK’s projections are that we will reach more than 500,000 new diagnoses of cancer a year in the UK by 2035. “By that time, our goal is that three in four people will survive their cancer. “Funding these Centres is one of the charity’s most important strategic priorities and one which will help us reach this ambition. “This huge investment is only made possible through generous donations from the public and the tireless fundraising of our supporters.”

Major investment The Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham is among the first wave of hospitals in England to benefit from a major national investment in NHS radiotherapy machines alongside £200m of funding over two years to improve local cancer services. NHS England Chief Executive Simon Stevens recently announced a £130m investment to kick-start the upgrade of radiotherapy equipment and transform cancer treatment across England. He revealed that University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the QEHB, is one of 15 Trusts where older linear accelerator (‘Linac’) machines will be upgraded or replaced, ensuring patients get access to the latest leading edge technology regardless of where they live. Around 4 in 10 of all NHS cancer patients are treated with radiotherapy, which typically uses high-energy radiation from a Linac machine. It is recommended that Linacs are replaced after around 10 years in operation. However, the last time there was a major national investment in NHS radiotherapy machines was in the early 2000s. The new £130 million fund will, over the next two years, enable half of the five year modernisation programme recommended by the Independent Cancer Taskforce. The investment will pay for over 100 replacements or upgrades of radiotherapy machines in hospitals around England. The £200m fund has been set up to encourage local areas to find new and innovative ways to diagnose cancer earlier, improve the care for those living with cancer and ensure each cancer patient gets the right care for them.

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