The Christie NHS Foundation Trust

"What does volunteering mean to you?"

This National Volunteers' Week, some of our volunteers are sharing what they love about their roles.

Thank you to all our volunteers for the invaluable contribution you make to our hospital.

Find out more about volunteering at The Christie.👇

Looking for a new challenge?

We have a range of clinical and non-clinical roles available at The Christie. Here are just a few of them:

🩵Receptionist
🩵Senior healthcare assistants
🩵Advanced practice therapeutic radiographer
🩵HR advisory manager
🩵 Clinical Fellow in Medical Oncology

Find out more and apply on our website.👇

Doctor-in-training Charlotte Russell has paused her medical studies to do a PhD in cancer research. 🔬

Based at the Manchester Cancer Research Centre on the Christie site in Withington, she’s looking into why people under 60 are more likely to have cancer that spreads to the brain than older adults.

Charlotte, who wants to be an oncologist when she finishes her training, recently spent time with two Christie consultants and their patients in the clinic.

“I was so impressed with the all-encompassing and compassionate nature of the care at The Christie. I was in the oesophageal cancer clinic, so in addition to the consultant and nurse, patients also got support from other experts like dieticians. It was great to see how everything works,” she says.

“Spending time in the hospital itself helped to bring home why cancer research is so crucial. It helps you understand the patient experience and how your own research can improve lives,” she says. “It has motivated me to pursue a career as an oncologist involved in research once I’ve qualified.”

A ground-breaking new drug called vorasidenib has been keeping Jodie Goulbourn's brain tumour at bay for over 4 years. 🧠

It's recently been approved for use on the NHS, the the first time a new adult brain tumour treatment has been approved in 20 years.

Jodie, who is 47 and has been married to John for 15 years, was one of the last patients to sign up to the trial that showed the new pill's effectiveness. To be eligible, she needed to have a grade 2 glioma with an IDH1 or IDH2 mutation. She also needed to have had surgery but no other treatment.

Jodie started on the drug at the end of 2021, and her cancer has remained stable since then.

💬 She says it's had a transformative effect on her life:

“Before starting on the trial, both my physical and mental health were suffering. I was getting bad migraines and head pain in the area where the tumour was sitting. Obviously, that was stopping me from doing the things I loved, but I was also constantly worried about what was going on. I couldn’t stop thinking about it. It didn’t take long after being on the trial that the pain disappeared and the migraines decreased in frequency.

“The difference that the drug has had on my physical and mental health has been remarkable. I recently started a new job in the Probation Service and would never have had the confidence to do that if it wasn’t for the trial. It’s changed me as a person.

“I’m so happy to hear that it’s now been approved on the NHS. To know now that other people will be able to have it means the world to me.”

Thank you to everyone working at The Christie and across the NHS this Bank Holiday weekend.💙

A reminder that if you are a patient and feeling unwell on treatment, our nurses on the hotline team provide 24/7 advice and support. You can contact them on 0161 446 3658.

“I wear a hat in the sun and factor 50, and I would encourage everyone to do the same. Keeping safe in the sun is really important – it could save your life.”

51-year-old Claire Jordan from Nantwich had two successful surgeries for melanoma skin cancer at Leighton Hospital and The Christie last year.

Claire, who was a fan of sunbeds and spent years soaking up the sunshine while travelling the world as an air steward, was diagnosed after she went to her GP about a mole she was concerned about.

“When I noticed a mole on my neck had changed colour and shape, my first thoughts were that maybe I had scratched or knocked it and that it would heal and look normal again,” she said. “But I plucked up the courage to make an appointment to get it checked out.”

Following her operations, Claire was given the all-clear, and no further treatment was needed.

Claire said her experience had changed her outlook on having a tan and sunbathing:

“I had always been incredibly careful in the sun on holiday, always using plenty of lotion and using a high factor, and didn't think my occasional sunbed use would ever be harmful. But it goes to show that you need to be incredibly careful to protect your skin. I now have the rest of my life ahead of me and have not visited the sunbed shop since,” she adds.

More on staying safe in the sun 👇

Today is International Clinical Trials Day.

The Christie is an international hub for cancer research, and our experts are working on around 700 clinical trials at any one time.

Together, they're going to double the number of patients benefitting from trials by 2030.

Without advances in science and medicine, there'd be no new cancer treatments. Thank you to all our staff and patients who are involved in research. 💙

Barbara Parker, known as Babs, has been part of The Christie team for 30 years 💙

As a PA and medical secretary in the lung oncology team, she’s often one of the first voices patients and families hear.

“We can be on the phone one minute talking to someone who has just lost their husband, and the next call might be a request for a letter,” she says. “I try to empathise and reassure people so that by the end of the conversation they are more at ease.”

From organising appointments to supporting difficult conversations, Barbara helps keep everything running and makes sure people feel heard and supported.

“I’ve received many heartfelt thank you cards and emails… I feel this shows that I do make a difference, even if it’s in a small way.”

After Admin Professionals Week, we’re proud to recognise colleagues like Barbara who make such an important difference every day.

Together, we are The Christie.

The Christie team won five awards at the GM Cancer Awards this week.🥳

From pioneering international research to using cutting-edge technology for our youngest patients, the awards show all the ways we make a difference to patients:

🔬Our international partnership transforming oesophageal cancer detection in Kenya won in the research category.

🧒Our proton beam therapy team is using VR distraction therapy with children and teenagers having treatment. They won the Innovation Award.

⭐Dr Sindhu Retnabai won the Spark of Excellence Award for her compassionate advocacy for teenagers and young adults with cancer.

🌐Over five years, our education team has connected cancer experts with 5,000 learners to reduce inequalities in cancer education. They won in the educational impact category.

🫁 The RAPID-RT trial won the Commitment to Equality Award. The trial addresses inequalities by delivering an inclusive, rapid-learning study that includes all patients who are having radiotherapy to cure their lung cancer.