This year, the Tessa Jowell Centre of Excellence for Children initiative was set up, with the aim to recognise paediatric neuro-oncology centres that provide excellent treatment, care and research activities for patients with brain tumours in the UK. The programme will uncover where innovation and excellence exist, as well as the challenges and gaps in the patient pathway, through comprehensive data collection. The data gathered through this process will be used to create bespoke solutions to address the challenges at hospital-level, regionally or nationally. Click here to find out more about the initiative.
In 2020-2021 Tessa Jowell Centre of Excellence designation initiative was established to recognise and award neuro-oncology centres for their excellence in patient treatment and care and research. It aims to enable and encourage as many centres as possible to achieve ‘Centre of Excellence’ designation to collectively raise the bar and set an example across the cancer community on how this type of effort can lead in the treatment of rare cancers. Read more about this initative here.
The Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission has worked with the community to set Standards of Excellence which go beyond today’s existing guidelines, covering clinical practice, patient care, staff training opportunities, access to clinical trials and research opportunities. Led by a committee of experts, centres are assessed against these standards by undergoing a rigorous assessment process including an extensive application form, virtual site visit and patient feedback collected by the Brain Tumour Charity.
Centres which meet the Standards are awarded Tessa Jowell Centre of Excellence for three years. After this, they are asked to re-apply to ensure centres continue to maintain and improve their services. Centres which did not obtain Excellence status have three years to develop and improve services in order to re-apply.
From Adult Centres to Children's Centres
