We’ve worked with the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission and a committee of experts to identify 14 Centres of Excellence in England and Wales which are delivering exceptional brain tumour care for adults with a diagnosis.
You can see a map of the centre below. But we also wanted to explore what made them stand out. Here are eight examples to illustrate how these NHS Trusts achieved the distinction of Centres of Excellence.
Driving early diagnosis
Our surveys and reports show that people often have several GP appointments complaining of symptoms before they are eventually diagnosed with a brain tumour. It’s common for this to be on admission to Accident and Emergency or through neurology after having a seizure.
To speed up diagnosis, some centres have piloted outreach initiatives and training programmes for local GPs to increase symptom awareness and build their confidence in referring patients directly for brain scans. In one instance, a Centre has increased referrals by GPs to 10 times the UK average, leading to the disease – if identified – being caught earlier.
Using novel technologies
Neuro-oncology teams are increasingly using technology like AI to make treatment and care more effective and efficient. King’s College Hospital in London is using AI to aid interpretation of brain tumour scans and even predict patients’ survival.
Meanwhile, imagine using immersive technology to see inside your own brain, or to simulate navigating your way around your own home before you are discharged from hospital? The team at Leeds has an innovation pop-up centre and has turned to tech more typically associated with gaming – virtual reality (VR) – to strive towards just that.
Consultant Neurosurgeon Ryan Matthew and his team have trialled using VR in post-op rehabilitation to investigate whether patients can be taught some elements of their own physiotherapy or occupational therapy while they wait for support in-person. Watch the film below to find out more about this here:
One of the patients who took part said:
“Surviving a major surgery or ailment is not enough. Surgeons helped me recover using an immersive VR app for me to leave the hospital quickly and go on to have a good quality life both before and after my surgery.”
A patient at Leeds
Personalising treatment
Hospitals across the UK have embraced the opportunity to use genetic testing to help develop personalised treatments. This has paved the way for innovative trials such as BRAIN-MATRIX, led by Professor Colin Watts from Birmingham, the Minderoo Precision Medicine Programme, led by Richard Mair in Cambridge, and the 5G trial run led by Dr Juanita Lopez at the Institute for Cancer Research and the Royal Marsden Hospital.
Some centres are using similar techniques to develop innovative ways of accelerating the time it takes to identify brain tumour type – a step that’s vital to decisions on treatment options.
For instance, a group of centres, led by Prof Matthew Loose, Dr Simon Paine and Stuart Smith at Nottingham, have been trialling new “nanopore” technology that shortens the time to get a molecular diagnosis from more than a month to a few hours.
The research team said: “This rapid turnaround has the potential to redefine surgical decision-making and improve patient outcomes.”
Clinical trials integrated into care pathway
It’s only through clinical trials that researchers can test new therapies that are potentially kinder and more effective for future generations. Centres across the UK have continued to run new clinical trials, from the novel precision medicine trials mentioned above to innovative surgical trials like FUTURE-GB, led by Mr Puneet Plaha at Oxford.
If everyone with a brain tumour could access a clinical trials clinic soon after diagnosis, a specialist nurse would ensure that they can take up any opportunity for which they are eligible as soon as recruitment to that trial opens.
That’s the practice at Barts, where the Barts Charity has funded Clinical Research Nurse Paolo Jose de Luna. His work has helped Barts attain some of the highest clinical trial recruitment numbers in the UK. Paolo recorded a Q&A with The Brain Tumour Charity here.
Highly accessible clinical nurse specialists
A Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) plays a central role in the care and after-care of people with a brain tumour by providing information and support. They are there at a time when people feel especially vulnerable and can answer questions ranging from the simple: “How soon after surgery can I wash my hair?” to the more complex: “I’ve been told I’ll need a titanium plate to replace part of my scalp. What can I expect?”
Centres of Excellence have developed innovative ways to ensure patients can contact their CNS to get this information or reassurance. These are often via everyday tools like WhatsApp or via a specific hospital app which enables patients to directly message their nurse, ensuring any queries are answered quickly and easily.
But in rural areas where patients can feel very isolated, the team is literally going the extra mile with a home visit service. Nurse Janet Bower, who’s based in Swansea, visits patients living all over West Wales to ensure they are well supported.
Wrap-around rehabilitation
Brain tumours and their treatment – even if successful – can have a profound long-term physical and psychological impact on individuals.
As Anya Jones explains here, rehabilitation is vital so that people can adapt to their ‘new normal’ and regain as much of their pre-diagnosis abilities as possible.
‘Wrap-around’ rehabilitation services which include physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and speech and language therapy are ideal, especially if they are available immediately post-surgery, but also in the weeks and months afterwards.
One example of this is the service provided by Cathryn Lewis and team at the Velindre Cancer Centre which has addressed gaps in care caused by a patient’s inability to travel. Another example is at the Christie in Manchester which has a focus on training local teams to deliver support close to home
Moving to palliative care
Being told that there are no further treatment options is an exceptionally challenging time for individuals and their families.
Having the time to consider what different types of palliative care are available – whether at home, in hospital or at a hospice – and making it the family’s choice are vitally important.
Neurosurgeon Prof Andrew Broadbelt and clinical nurse specialist Alison Rodway have developed a dedicated “best supportive care” clinic at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre in Liverpool – where patients are given the time to come to discuss their options and needs in a supportive environment.
And at the Royal Marsden, patients have access to a dedicated Hospital2Home team, funded by the hospital charity, which works with clinicians and local hospices to ensure the move to end-of-life care is as comfortable, efficient and highly personalised as possible.
You can read about Louise’s positive experience of paediatric palliative care here
Benign is not fine
People living with a low-grade brain tumour may have invisible, complex and long-term needs which affect their quality of life. Even if they’ve had successful treatment, they can experience lifelong challenges depending on the type of tumour they’ve had, where in the brain it is situated and the treatment they’ve experienced.
These aspects of brain tumour care are often overlooked. But at Centres of Excellence, there’s a dedicated pathway to support this important group of patients. It may include specialist nurses and multi-disciplinary team meetings, such as those in Sheffield which offer regular dedicated clinics. Or at Salford Royal Hospital and at The Christie, Tina Karabatsou and Prof Catherine McBain, respectively, have developed a regular education day for patients with a low-grade glioma, helping them to understand the long-term support available and the research they may be able to participate in.
In Newcastle, the Ways Ahead Project, which is funded by The Brain Tumour Charity, aims to better support patients with low-grade gliomas through its ongoing research project led by Ben Rimmer and Prof Linda Sharp. And at the University of Plymouth, researchers including Prof Oliver Hanemann have been investigating the underlying causes of lower grade brain tumours.
You can find full details about the 2025 Tessa Jowell Centres of Excellence here.