United front in the war on cancer

Oldham’s NHS trust is in a new partnership aiming to improve cancer services and increase survival rates.

Pennine Acute NHS Trust, which runs the Royal Oldham Hospital, has joined others to launch Manchester Cancer, which involves hospitals and expertise across the region.

Mortality rates from cancer in Greater Manchester remain high. Around 460 lives across the region are prematurely lost each year because cancer survival rates are below the national average.

The new partnership will mean people benefit from an integrated cancer-treatment system for the first time.

Manchester Cancer brings together the NHS services that treat people with cancer with two other vital components of integrated care — cancer research and the education of health professionals.

Thomas Pharaoh, associate director of Manchester Cancer said “Our aim is to become one of the top five integrated cancer systems in the world, securing world-class outcomes for the cancer patients and populations we serve.”