Nursing Students

• High quality diagnosis, treatment and care for patients
• World-class research
• Education in all aspects of cancer
• Training for medical, nursing and allied health professional students

We have a proud 100 year history and are one of the largest cancer treatment centres in Europe. We cover a population of 3.2 million across Greater Manchester and Cheshire, with our medical staff also sharing their expertise with colleagues in hospitals across the region.

Every year we register over 12,000 new patients and treat over 40,000. Because of our specialist services we provide, approximately 20% of our patients, are referred from outside Greater Manchester and Cheshire, and our private patients unit provides care for people from across the world. We have approximately 250 inpatient beds, which are intensively used, with an average length of stay of 5 days.

We are also one of the leading centres in the UK for clinical trials and radiotherapy research. In 2005 we established the Manchester Cancer Research Centre in partnership with The University of Manchester and Cancer Research UK. Through this development, we will help put Manchester at the forefront of international research.

As a tertiary centre our patients are referred from district general hospitals, having already had their cancer diagnosed. Many will have also had their first treatment, which is usually surgical.

We offer a wide range of services including specialist surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, care and treatment for patients with haematological malignancies, endocrine disorders and also palliative and support care services for adults and young people with cancer.

Although most clinical areas within the hospital care for patients that have or have had cancer there is still excellent opportunities for student nurses to learn, develop and practise general nursing skills.

Approximately 2000 staff work on our site, plus over 300 volunteers. We currently train student nurses from University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University on the Diploma in Professional Studies in Nursing and BSc Nursing pathways. Requests for 'elective' clinical placement experiences from nursing students throughout the country are welcomed."

We have achieved world firsts in research throughout our 100 year history. We received the top three star rating for NHS organisations in 2004/05. Staff teams and individuals have won numerous awards for services and research, and we were shortlisted for the Health Service Journal's 'Acute Healthcare Organisation of the Year Award 2005'.

We have a total annual turnover of around £108 million. Most of this is from the NHS, together with funding from charitable and research organisations. We run one of the most successful medical charities in the country. Our charity has more than 2000 fundraisers and brings in around £9 million a year from fundraising, donations and legacies.

As the lead cancer centre for Greater Manchester and Cheshire we have ambitious plans to develop and improve cancer services for our local population. These developments include a new £7 million critical care unit at The Christie. We also want to build on our expertise in complex cancer surgery and develop more outpatient and day case treatments so that patients can benefit from the best possible treatments without having to stay in hospital.

We became an NHS Foundation Trust in April 2007. As a Foundation Trust we will be better able to listen and respond to the views of local people and patients. We will also have the necessary flexibility and freedom to take forward plans for the benefit of our patients.