World-leading treatment and care
At The Royal Marsden we want to provide personalised treatment and care for a patient's cancer, but also support their emotional and physical wellbeing throughout their treatment.
Providing compassionate support
At The Royal Marsden, we offer patients world-leading treatment and care. We care for the whole person, not just their illness and support patients at every stage of their cancer journey. By funding the latest research and equipment, and world-leading professionals, we can ensure that each patient is given the very best treatment and care, supported not just physically, but emotionally and psychologically too.
In 2023/24, the quality of services grant has continued to fund vital counselling and psychological support for patients, including the Adult Psychological Support Service. This provides support to patients throughout their treatment at The Royal Marsden, ensuring that the mental health of patients is addressed alongside their physical wellbeing.
Thanks to this grant, the hospital has also been able to deliver a broad range of complementary therapies at The Royal Marsden in Chelsea and Sutton, including massage therapy, aromatherapy and reflexology. The service supports inpatients and outpatients with complex symptoms including pain, anxiety and concerns around altered body image, from diagnosis to post-treatment.
Personalised treatment and care
The grant has also helped to fund the prehabilitation team, which encompasses a range of therapies and medical support. The team works with patients to ensure they are physically and mentally ready to undergo cancer treatment, such as surgery, which helps to minimise cancelled or postponed operations as well as aiding the patient’s recovery.
Charity funding was also awarded to staff led projects like the Emerging from the Haze programme which developed resources to better support patients experiencing cancer-related cognitive impairment (CRCI). Informative videos and online learning resources were created to provide patients with tools and strategies to optimise cognition following cancer treatment, as well as understand their symptoms and how to seek help.
Training the next generation of surgeons
In addition to the £1.14m quality of services grant, and thanks to our generous supporters, we also fund the UK’s first cross-speciality Robotic Surgery Fellowship Programme at The Royal Marsden. Launched in 2017, the programme trains surgeons to use the Charity funded da Vinci Xi surgical robots. The robots provide greater accuracy during operations and allow surgeons to operate on different areas of the body at once, which is often needed when dealing with advanced cancers. Robotic surgery is saving, and will continue to save, the lives of cancer patients.
The surgeons who complete the programme go on to work at hospitals around the world, spreading expertise beyond The Royal Marsden to transform the lives of cancer patients.
"The team at The Royal Marsden have been absolutely wonderful. They’ve approached my care in a rounded way, looking after me as a whole person, rather than just treating my disease or a list of symptoms."
Peter - Prostate cancer patient at The Royal Marsden.
