The Royal Marsden Hospital: 'Children's cancer unit move will make it safer'

Aimee was under the care of The Royal Marsden Hospital for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma

Parents who say their child was left with "a 50% chance of dying" after a delay in emergency care during cancer treatment are backing the controversial relocation of services.

Treatment is currently provided by The Royal Marsden Hospital, at Sutton, and St George's Hospital, in Tooting.

Plans would see care at St George's or Evelina London Children's Hospital because intensive care must be present.

A petition calling to stop such a move has reached almost 12,000 names.

However, Isabel and Dan Lowe say a lack of intensive care service at The Royal Marsden left their daughter Aimee at risk.

Mr Lowe said she was transferred from the hospital to St George's in 2021 because she needed emergency care, and added a campaign to keep children's cancer services at The Royal Marsden because of concerns over travel was "not worth the risk".

NHS England is due to announce its decision on future services on Thursday.

NHS England said the current site could not "meet the latest requirements" for a "level three children's intensive care unit".

The Royal Marsden Hospital treats about 1,400 children aged 15 and under from south London, Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, Kent and Medway and most of Surrey.

Mr Lowe said his daughter had been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in November 2021 and had begun chemotherapy treatment at The Royal Marsden after her diagnosis.

In December 2021, she needed urgent surgery that could not be performed at the hospital, he said.

Aimee is now in remission and is hoping to become a doctor

An intensive care transfer ambulance was requested, which travelled from the Evelina hospital in Lambeth to The Royal Marsden to transport the then 15-year-old to St George's Hospital.

During this time, Aimee was in "extreme pain", he said.

'Incredibly traumatic'

"From when Aimee began to experience the pain to the point of her actually arriving at St George's for surgery, it was well over 20 hours," he added.

"The surgeon pulled me to one side and said 'this could be the last time you see your daughter'."

Ms Lowe, a nurse, said Aimee's hospital transfer had been "incredibly traumatic".

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"You become aware of the limits of [The Royal Marsden]," she said. "They can't deal with an acute situation."

The couple said they supported the move of children's cancer care out of The Royal Marsden and into either the Evelina or St George's.

"You want your child to be in the safest place possible," Mr Lowe said.

'View would change'

He added they could not understand why there was "so much opposition" to the proposal for relocation.

"If their child was in the position Aimee was, I think their views would be drastically changed," he said.

In 2021, new service rules set out that specialist cancer treatment services for children must be on the same site as a level three children's intensive care unit.

The Royal Marsden does not have one and this service is currently being provided by St George's in Tooting.

Whether St George's or the Evelina is picked for services to be located, children's cancer care will definitely move away from The Royal Marsden, although that is not expected to happen until at least 2026.

Children's cancer care at St George's would also end if Evelina London Children's Hospital became the chosen option.

A spokesperson for NHS England London and South East regions said: "While the current service provides a safe, high-quality service for children with cancer it does not, and cannot, meet the latest requirements to be on the same site as a level three children's intensive care unit.

"The vision for a future Principal Treatment Centre is that it will build on the many strengths of the existing service, give best quality care and achieve world-class outcomes for children with cancer for decades to come.

"A decision on the future location of the centre is due to be made shortly."

Professor Nicholas van As, Medical Director for The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, said: "The current service at The Royal Marsden is assessed as high-quality and safe, and a third of children treated in the hospital are able to access clinical trials through our world leading Oak Paediatric and Adolescent Oncology Drug Development Unit."

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