1999/2000 Annual Review

The year under review, in which we saw the appointment of a new Chairman, has been very busy and productive for all of us at Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology (CCO.)

We are currently funded for six Linear Accelerators and a Cobalt machine and in 1999/2000, we received Government funding to replace one of our older Linear Accelerators. In addition, we have been notified of the availability of National Lottery money from the New Opportunities Fund (NOF) for two more replacement Linear Accelerators in the next three years. We will also receive a new Linear Accelerator from NOF and two new bunkers in which to house the machines. On top of all this, we won the battle of the Millennium Bug!

We would like to express the thanks of the whole Board to all the staff and volunteers associated with CCO. Without their support and commitment, 1999/2000 would have been a much less successful year. The Trust aims to build on the strong relationships in place over the coming 12 months to work with all employees to make CCO a better place for both patients and staff.

One of the most exciting developments of the year has been the installation and commissioning of a new Linear Accelerator. After several months of technical and scientific checks, the machine was officially opened in January by Fiona Castle, wife of the late entertainer and cancer fund-raiser, Roy Castle.

While staff prepared the new Linear Accelerator in the autumn, we received the wonderful news in September from the NOF that £93m of National Lottery money had been allocated to the NHS to provide a one-off investment in cancer equipment which will fund three new treatment machines and a new Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Scanner over the next two to three years.

The National Cancer Collaborative Project commenced late in 1999 and CCO was successful in becoming one of the nine development sites. The purpose of the project is to develop and streamline the patient's journey and experience across all parts of the NHS, thus improving access, speed of treatment, satisfaction and outcome.

Building work continued during the year at the North Wales Cancer Treatment Centre in Glan Clwyd in preparation for the scheduled opening in June 2000. We have worked closely with clinical and managerial colleagues from North Wales to ensure a smooth transition of services for patients. Thanks to the work of the CCO 2000 and Beyond Project Teams, the Trust will retain its current funding levels once the North Wales patients are transferred. We were able to demonstrate to our Health Authorities the continuing rise of cancer service activity and revised funding arrangements are now in place.

CCO continues to build upon its joint developments with Clatterbridge Cancer Research Trust, involving both research and new technologies. Both our charitable funds contribute towards this and thanks are due to our many supporters.

Finally, we should like to take this opportunity to thank Dame Gill Oliver for her long and significant contribution to nursing at CCO and particularly in her role as Director of Patient Services. Dame Gill took up her new position as Director of Service Development for Macmillan Cancer Relief in April 2000. On behalf of all our colleagues at CCO, we wish her a happy, fulfilling and successful future in her new role.

Alan White
Chairman

Geoff Greenwood
Chief Executive