Local MPs thanked our cancer teams for their incredible work during a visit to the Royal Free Hospital. 

Feryal Clark, MP for Enfield North, and David Pinto-Duschinksy, MP for Hendon, met with our staff and heard about how we are making a real difference to patients living with cancer.

Cancer care is a key pillar of our trust's clinical vision. We receive over 65,000 suspected cancer referrals every year, which makes us the second largest recipient in England. 

Group chief executive, Peter Landstrom, welcomed the MPs and provided an overview of our trust. He said, "We have got world-class services that are internationally renowned, but we also have a strong position as a local healthcare provider."

"When you look at the landscape of cancer, we are an organisation that is meeting challenges, and making the necessary changes for the future."

MPs heard about how we hope to treat more patients closer to home, expand artificial intelligence in radiotherapy across our trust, build on our surgical expertise and trial a new app to improve the experience of patients with breast cancer.

During the visit, the MPs were shown our clinical research facility (CRF). They heard about the importance of early stage clinical research and how ground-breaking treatments are developed for cancer. The initial funding for the CRF was provided by the Royal Free Charity.

They were also shown our £8 million positron emission tomography (PET) scanner, which was funded by the Royal Free Charity. This machine is helping us to scan more patients and speeding up diagnosis. It has also provided us with more opportunities for research and developments in theranostics which is a combination of identifying and treating cancers.

The final stop was our radiotherapy department where MPs learnt about the stereotactic ablative body radiotherapy (SABR) treatment. This has improved patient experience as it involves less visits to hospital with a higher dose of radiotherapy given per treatment compared to standard radiotherapy. Staff were praised for their commitment to patient care, working to see between 60 and 70 patients each day.

Learn more about our clinical strategy and how cancer is one of the trust's three clinical priorities.