Annex 5: Summary of the Committee's Visit
to The Paterson Institute and the Christie Hospital
29th June 2000
THE PATERSON INSTITUTE AND THE CHRISTIE HOSPITAL
The Christie Hospital is a large specialist cancer
centre with 60 consultant medical staff and sees 14,800 inpatients
and 66,600 day patients and 68,000 out patient appointments each
year. Christie staff also treated some 30,500 patients in other
regional centres. The Trust's total annual income was around £45
million of which some £1 million per annum was Culyer funding.
The Paterson Institute for Cancer Research is embedded in the
Christie NHS Trust. The Paterson has over 200 staff. Its annual
income is in the region of £7 to £7.5 million, mostly
from the CRC. The MRC contribution to the Institute is minimal.
The University of Manchester Medical School is also involved with
the Christie and the Paterson.
Meetings with Professor David Gordon, Dean of Medicine,
University of Manchester; Professor Nic Jones, Director of the
Paterson Institute; Dr Linda Lashford, Director of R&D, Christie
Hospital NHS Trust; Professor Maggie Pearson, R&D Director,
NHS Executive North West; Professor Nick Thatcher, Professor of
Medical Oncology, University of Manchester; Dr Pat Price, Reader
in Clinical Oncology at Imperial College London; Professor Robert
Hawkins, CRC Head of Cancer Studies, University of Manchester,
Dr Fiona Blackhall, CRC Clinical Research Fellow, University of
Manchester; Professor Ian Stratford, Professor of Pharmacy, University
of Manchester.
Topics discussed:
The relationship between the Christie Hospital Trust
and the Paterson Institute and associated management problems;
the co-location of research and treatment, which allows junior
doctors on the hospital's staff to undertake research and brings
researchers close to patients and good collaboration between Institute,
University and Hospital; clinical-academic relations; the high
proportion of children with cancer entered into clinical trials;
the poor infrastructure at the Christie; the shortage of radiographers;
the shortage of funding for clinical trials; Culyer funding; trials
approval processes; the under-funding of treatment services; the
problems involved in moving research groups between institutions;
PET scanning for molecular imaging and drug development; the need
for a national network for cancer research; training structures
proposed by Calman-Hine.
The Committee also toured the facilities at the
Institute and the hospital.
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