Christie Hospital NHS Trust
Name of Contact: Linda Scott
Phone: 0161 446 3006
E-mail: linda.scott@christie-tr.nwest.nhs.uk
Description of Trust
The Christie Hospital is the largest single-site cancer centre in Europe. It provides care for people with cancer and their families across the Greater Manchester and Cheshire Cancer Network, the largest of the UK’s Cancer Networks. As well as specialist clinical provision, the Trust incorporates the Paterson Institute for Cancer Research. As such, the Trust is a recognised world leader in cancer care and research. Services provided include chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery, as well as rehabilitative services, such as physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and supportive & palliative care. The Trust has some innovative services, including art therapy and a range of complementary therapies.
Infrastructure to support R&D
The Trust has a research strategy, which highlights the links between research and excellence in clinical care and which also recognises the need for support for nursing and the allied health professions (AHP), as fledgling research disciplines in the Trust. The research strategy has been produced within a tri-partite framework of clinical governance, education and research strategy development.
Nurse and AHP-led research activity in the Trust has been recognised through incorporation into one of the Trust’s named research programmes (“Improving the Patient Experience”). The nursing element of this programme includes eight Trust nurses who are working towards research degrees (MPhil and above), a nurse consultant who has a Macmillan research scholarship and a £0.25 million Community Fund research grant, joint with a local hospice (St Ann’s) and two local HEIs (the universities of Manchester and Salford) to explore complementary therapy service provision in three cancer centres.
The Trust has a Nurse Learning and Development Unit, headed by the Senior Nurse for Professional Development. The NLDU includes support for clinical practice (pre- and post-registration), professional development and research capacity/capability building. We have a well-established Shared Governance programme, with three Councils (Human Resources, Education & Research and Practice Development), as well as an over-arching Co-ordinating Council. Shared Governance activity is multi-professional and includes representation from a local HEI (the University of Manchester). Our clinical oncology services are currently working towards accreditation as a Practice Development Unit. There are more than thirty research nurses working in the Trust, some of whom are under-taking nurse-led research as well as supporting others’ research.
The Trust has excellent links and collaborations with the Manchester-based Macmillan Research and Development Unit (formerly Macmillan Practice Development Unit). Activities include secondment of Trust nurses to Unit research projects, facilitating research capacity and capability building, and involvement of Unit staff in the supervision of higher degrees by research.
Four years ago, a joint post was established between the School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting at the University of Manchester and the Trust. This half-time post, involving secondment of a post-doctoral researcher from the university, was specifically for facilitation and promotion of nursing R&D in the Trust; appointment at this level of research experience and good links with the HEI have been central to the success of the role. The remit of the post has expanded considerably since its inception and includes individual support (eg for nurses wishing to apply for/undertaking a higher degree, individuals wishing to undertake service evaluation, etc); supporting and promotion production of public output (papers, conference submissions, applications for R&D awards, etc); facilitation of shared governance projects; promotion of research and evidence-based practice (eg through critical appraisal skills teaching, workshops on writing for publication and submitting conference abstracts, etc) and development of research proposals. The post-holder has also had a strategic role, leading on development of Trust nursing research strategy and contributing to the education strategy and research governance initiatives, especially regarding user involvement in research. In recognition of the importance of multi-professional working, the post-holder, although mainly focusing on nurses, also provides support for allied health professionals and junior medical colleagues. The recent appointment of a Reader in Cancer and Supportive Care at the University of Manchester has provided an exciting opportunity to review the role and we hope that a substantial programme of externally funded nursing research will develop over the next couple of years.
Examples of clinically based research and development projects / activity that have made a difference to patients experiences / outcomes
There are numerous Shared Governance projects which have influenced patient care, including development of care pathways (eg for patients experiencing spinal cord compression and those with brain tumours); evidence-based care plans (eg oral care); an evidence-based cancer-specific wound care formulary. One multi-professional Shared Governance project, an evaluation of the use of ozone treatment for radiotherapy skin reactions has resulted in a publication and is being developed as a proposal for external funding. The Trust has a very active clinical benchmarking group, undertaking work connected with the DH “Essence of Care” initiative and the team recently won a Nursing Times award for their work regarding nutrition. A Trust nurse is undertaking ground-breaking work exploring use of aromatherapy massage in patients receiving high dose chemotherapy. A multi-professional group, including three Trust nurses, recently secured £0.25 million to undertake a multi-centre evaluation of complementary therapy service provision. Two Trust nurses are central to work on exploring late effects of cancer treatment. There are a number of audit and service evaluation projects being led by nurses, including an audit of cardiopulmonary resuscitation documentation, which has led to a review of Trust CPR guidelines; an evaluation of a chair massage service for carers; and an evaluation of a nurse-led telephone follow-up service, which has recently been accepted for publication.
Any internet links
The Research Strategy is available to Christie staff via the Trust intranet. We have R&D pages on the Trust’s website, which are accessible to individuals outside the Trust.