Annual members' meeting - Thursday 11 September 2025
Attendees – 31 (in person), 16 (virtual)
- Joe Rafferty (JR), Chair
- Roger Spencer (RS), Chief Executive Officer
- Louise Westcott (LW), Company Secretary
- Welcome and introduction
JR introduced himself as the Chair of the Trust and welcomed our members, governors, staff and volunteers to the meeting. This is our Annual Members meeting where we will be looking at the work and achievements of the Trust in 2024/25.
The Christie has responded in its usual committed and determined way to ensure the best possible cancer care. We have seen innovation and developments happen in the way we treat patients, as well as big steps taken towards our mission of providing world beating care, research and education. People and patients are at the centre of all this, and JR thanked everyone for their support.
JR noted that the achievements in 2024/25 the annual report and accounts are also available to access on our website Annual report and auditor's report - 2024/25.
- Report from the Chairman
- Minutes
JR noted that the minutes for the previous annual members meeting from 27 September 2024 have been available on the website prior to today’s meeting. No corrections have been received so these were accepted as an accurate record.
- Governor elections and thanks
JR noted that he is very pleased to announce the results of the governor elections.
Mike Molete for the Manchester constituency and Gemma Jones for the Registered Nurses staff constituency were both re-elected for a second term.
Lee Showman was elected to the Bury constituency, Anthony O’Connor to the Manchester constituency, Susan Mee to the Oldham constituency, Andrea Hunt to the Trafford constituency and Abiola Fatimilehin to the Registered Medical Practitioners staff constituency.
Unfortunately, we did not fill 4 of our public constituencies and will look to fill these seats going forward.
JR congratulated our existing governors on being re-elected and extended a very warm welcome to our new governors.
On behalf of the Trust and the Council of Governors JR thanked our outgoing governors:
Councillor Eddie Moores - completed 9 years as partner governor for GMCA and as a member of the Membership and Community Engagement Committee. We look forward to welcoming Councillor Mishal Saeed as our new partner governor for GMCA.
Marcella Turner – also completed 9 years as partner governor for Can Survive UK and as a member of the Membership and Community Engagement Committee. We look forward to welcoming Kirit Patel as our new partner governor for Can Survive UK.
Dr Kantappa Gajanan – completed 3 years as staff governor for Registered Medical Practitioners and as a member of the Nominations Committee.
Linda Seddon – completed 3 years as public governor for Trafford and as a member of the Development and Sustainability Committee.
Paula Turner - completed 6 years as public governor for Manchester and as a member and chair of the Patient Safety and Experience Committee.
JR thanked our outgoing governors very much for their involvement and hoped that they keep in touch.
- Appointment of Directors
JR updated the meeting on appointments and changes to the Board of Directors in 2023/24. During 2024/25, there were the following changes to the Board of Directors:
• Kieran Walshe, left the Board of Directors in June 2024 after 9 years.
• Robert Ainsworth, left the Board of Directors in September 2024 after 8 ½ years.
• Sarah Corcoran was appointed in June 2024.
• Roy Dudley-Southern was appointed in September 2024.
• Victoria Sharples was appointed as chief nurse and executive director of quality in May 2024.
• Theresa Plaiter, interim Executive Chief Nurse and Director of Quality left the Board of Directors in September 2024.
Further details about all the members of the Board of Directors are available on our website.
JR confirmed that during 2024/25 the Nominations Committee recommended to the Council of Governors the reappointment of Grenville Page and Alveena Malik for a further 1 year. These extensions were agreed by the council of governors.
JR noted that there have been some changes this year and these will be reported to the next meeting.
- Amendments to Trust constitution
JR noted that there were no updates made to the Trust Constitution during 2024/25.
- Report from the council of governors
- JR noted that he is presenting the summary of the work of the Council of Governors and its committees in 2024/25. He thanked the Council of Governors for its continued commitment to carry on supporting the Trust.
Amongst other things the council has reviewed the appraisals of the non-executive directors including the chairman and heard detail of the refreshed strategy of the Trust.
Much of the work of the council is done through their committees:
The Membership & Community Engagement Committee has developed and been working to the Membership Strategy 2023-26, this continues the work of the previous strategy with the focus on increasing engagement and representation in the membership. At the end of the year 2024/25 our total membership was 12,764 members (this is including staff and volunteers).
The Patient Safety & Experience Committee reviewed issues relating to patient safety, clinical effectiveness and patient experience. The ‘talking to patients’ initiative that has been so successful over the years and gives the governors direct engagement with patients, carers and frontline staff, continues to be popular and successful.
The Development & Sustainability Committee has been involved with the annual planning process in its changed form and has worked on reviewing progress against the Trust Strategy. This committee has also provided governor input to major capital programme developments including the now completed Paterson site redevelopment, as well as receiving updates on the changed financial planning process.
Nominations Committee has made recommendations for appointments and the extension of non-executives terms and appointed a new chair.
The council of governors as a whole had a busy and productive year. Meetings have been very well attended both in person and virtually.
JR handed over to Roger Spencer, The Christie Chief Executive to provide more information about the Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25.
- Report of the Chief Executive
RS introduced the summary of the annual report & accounts for the year 2024/25.
- Annual report and accounts 2024/25 and forward planning information
RS noted that we are passionately committed to improving the outcomes and experiences for cancer patients. In 2024/25 our team has delivered an outstanding set of results. RS updated first on the key elements of the delivery of the Trusts requirements:
- Quality Standards
In 2024/25, The Christie continued to perform very well against our required quality standards including our safety measures such as extremely low infection rates, and carried on monitoring our waiting time targets to ensure that our patients continued to be seen as quickly as possible. We also worked across the system in Greater Manchester to prioritise cancer patients where there are still some long waits because of the ongoing impact of the pandemic. But most importantly we have received excellent feedback from our patients throughout the year giving us excellent outcome and experience results. You will hear more about this shortly.
- In terms of our Financial Performance
The Trust continues to have a strong grip on managing the finances during this challenging time. For 2024/25, we made a consolidated surplus of £15.0 m (this includes The Christie Pharmacy (a subsidiary company of the Trust) & the Trust).
In 2024/25 the Trust has been paid under the national Aligned Payment and Incentive payment model. This payment regime comprises fixed and variable elements, with all activity that forms part of the Elective Recovery Fund, chemotherapy deliveries, outpatient diagnostic imaging, nuclear medicine and most high-cost drugs and devices now paid on a variable basis. NHS commissioners and NHS England have invested £50.0m more in patient treatments than in the previous year.
We have invested £17.3m on new assets including:
• Completion of conversion of previous administrative space into 2 new additional wards
• The continuation of a multi-year replacement programme of our fleet of linear accelerators
• New information technology
• Estates maintenance to ensure effective patient care
- Auditors Opinion
We have been given a clean bill of health by our auditors who set out in their report that our accounts are a true representation and we pass the required efficient effective and economic tests.
- Regulators Assessment
We have complied with the required standards as well as achieving a rating of 2 in the NHS Oversight Framework which assesses performance across quality of care, finance and use of resources, operational performance, strategic change, and leadership and improvement capability.
RS noted that we have just been ranked 3rd in the new ratings assessment for quarter 1 2025/26 in the ‘Acute and Specialist trust’ type. This means we can carry on with plans to deliver more developments of new treatments and facilities.
Short film with feedback from patients and staff shown.
- Questions
Question about how the scoring works in the new assessment framework – the lower the segment the better (1 is best). Each element that we are assessed against is scored and many of the scores are relative to what everyone else has achieved, others are absolute – if you achieve the target you get a 1.
Question on how we compare internationally – comparison is difficult as centres provide different services. We rely on assessments such as the Organisation of European Cancer Institutes (OECI) who have just reaccredited us as an exemplary comprehensive cancer centre.
Newsweek have done an assessment for US centres, and we are ranked 23rd internationally in this assessment.
Focus / challenge for year ahead – NHS is in a very challenged position. We are doing what we can to support the system and respond to the growing demand and advance treatments at the same time. Our brilliant staff are rising to the challenge. Looking at about 7% increase in demand each year.
What are the other higher ranking global cancer centres doing that we can aspire to. We continue to learn from them but it is difficult to compare as we are in the NHS and serve our total population.
What are long term plans for the Pat Seed department (CT scanning). RS noted that we have approved plans to build a new Advanced Scanning & Imaging centre on Wilmslow Road that we are going to deliver in the next 2 to 3 years. This will provide the latest facilities and equipment.
Are there any plans for another radiotherapy centre like Oldham, Salford & Macclesfield. We are looking at what we may be able to provide going forward, we are looking at plans for a new hospital in Crewe (Leighton Hospital) that could present an opportunity.
What have we spent against the surplus we generated last year. We made a £15m surplus, our turnover is roughly £500m. We were given £50m more in 24/25 than the previous year. We spent £17m on capital developments.
Many thanks for the interesting questions.
- SACT (systemic anti-cancer treatment) in Motion at The Christie
Presented by Caroline Rogers, Head of SACT Services and Gemma Jones, Lead Nurse for SACT
Gemma and Caroline introduced themselves.
We treat around 400 patients every day, and do around 9000 blood tests a week.
8 to 10% increase in demand year on year – this reflects new drug approvals, increased incidence of cancer and patient living longer with cancer.
We manage relationships across a huge network of providers and collaborate with multiple organisations. We don’t manage all staff so we guide staff to deliver the care and treatment.
We promote a shift in culture in these other organisations.
‘Getting started’ sessions are offered and undertaken for all patients starting on system treatment, this has been really well received.
Launched ePROMs for SACT assessments – this is a way that patients can electronically record their reactions to treatment that can trigger interventions where needed.
Day before deliveries of drugs have improved a prompt start each day across the multiple sites.
In terms of sustainability, we are moving to electric cars for staff travelling around our network.
This is a busy & growing service, multiple sites makes the service complicated. We are looking to try and increase equality of delivery in a more efficient way whilst providing a safe service for our patients.
- JR thanked everyone for attending and for the support given.
Meeting closed.
Annual members' meeting - Friday 27 September 2024
Attendees – 29 (in person), 16 (virtual)
- Edward Astle – Chairman
- Roger Spencer – Chief Executive
- Jo D’Arcy – Assistant Company Secretary (Minutes)
- Welcome and introduction
Edward Astle (EA) introduced himself as the Chair of the Trust and welcomed our members, governors, staff and volunteers to the meeting. This is our Annual Members meeting where we will be looking at the work and achievements of the Trust in 2023/24.
The Christie has responded in its usual committed and determined way to ensure the best possible cancer care. We have seen innovation and developments happen in the way we treat patients, as well as big steps taken towards our mission of providing world beating care, research and education. People and patients are at the centre of all this, and EA thanked everyone for their support.
EA noted that the achievements in 2023/24 the annual report and accounts are also available to access on our website Annual report and Accounts 2023/24.
- Report from the Chairman
- Minutes
EA noted that the minutes for the previous annual members meeting from 22 November 2023 have been available on the website prior to today’s meeting. No corrections have been received so these were accepted as an accurate record.
- Governor elections and thanks
EA noted that he is very pleased to announce the results of the governor elections.
Mike Norcross for the Cheshire constituency and Scott Davies for the Salford constituency were both re-elected for a second term.
Ewan Addison was elected to the North West constituency, Pamela Tate to the Wigan constituency and Tim Lowe to the Stockport constituency.
Unfortunately, we did not fill 4 of our public constituencies and will look to fill these seats going forward.
EA congratulated our existing governors on being re-elected and extended a very warm welcome to our new governors.
On behalf of the Trust and the Council of Governors, EA thanked our outgoing governors:
Jackie Collins - completed 9 years as public governor for Stockport and a member and Chair of the Development and Sustainability Committee
Nick Coghlan – also completed 9 years as a public governor for Wigan and a member of the Membership and Community Engagement Committee
Sue Mee - resigned as the public governor for Oldham in July 2024 after completing a year as a governor and member of the Patient Safety and Experience Committee
We also sadly lost Andrew Butler as a governor in May 2024 who sadly passed away following illness.
EA thanked our outgoing governors very much for their involvement and hoped that they keep in touch.
- Appointment of Directors
EA updated the meeting on appointments and changes to the Board of Directors in 2023/24.
During 2023/24, there were the following changes to the Board of Directors:
• Kathryn Riddle, Non-Executive Director, left the Board of Directors in May 2023 after 9 years.
• Christine Outram, Chair, left the Board of Directors in September 2023 after 9 years.
• Jane Maher, Non-Executive Director, left the Board of Directors in September 2023 after 8 years.
• Edward Astle was appointed as Chairman in October 2023.
• Janelle Yorke, Executive Chief Nurse and Director of Quality, left the Board of Directors in December 2023.
• Theresa Plaiter was appointed as interim Executive Chief Nurse and Director of Quality in January 2024.
• Diana Tait was appointed as Non-Executive Director in January 2024.
• Bernie Delahoyde, Chief Operating Officer, left the Board of Directors at the end of March 2024.
• Claire McPeake was appointed as interim Chief Operating Officer in March 2024.
Further details about all the members of the Board of Directors are available on our website.
EA confirmed that during 2023/24 the Nominations Committee recommended to the Council of Governors the reappointment of Kieran Walshe, Tarun Kapur for a further 1 year and Robert Ainsworth for a further 6 months. These extensions were agreed by the Council of Governors.
EA noted that there have been some changes this year and these will be reported to the next meeting.
- Amendments to Trust constitution
EA noted updates were made to the Trust Constitution during 2023/24 to reflect the revised appointment and terms of office conditions for chairs and non-executive directors as laid out in the NHS Foundation Trust Code of Governance. The revised Constitution was approved by the Council of Governors in July 2023.
- Report from the council of governors
- EA noted that he is presenting the summary of the work of the Council of Governors and its committees in 2023/24. He thanked the Council of Governors for its continued commitment to carry on supporting the Trust.
Amongst other things the council has reviewed the appraisals of the non-executive directors including the chairman and heard detail of the refreshed strategy of the Trust.
Much of the work of the council is done through their committees:
The Membership and Community Engagement Committee has developed and been working to the Membership Strategy 2023-26, this continues the work of the previous strategy with the focus on increasing engagement and representation in the membership. At the end of the year 2023/24 our total membership was 12,750 members (this is including staff and volunteers), this has been reduced from around 30,000 members. The target membership is now 10,000 engaged members.
The Patient Safety and Experience Committee reviewed issues relating to patient safety, clinical effectiveness and patient experience. The ‘talking to patients’ initiative that has been so successful over the years and gives the governors direct engagement with patients, carers and frontline staff, continues to be popular and successful.
The Development and Sustainability Committee has been involved with the annual planning process in its changed form and has worked on reviewing progress against the Trust Strategy. This committee has also provided governor input to major capital programme developments including the now completed Paterson site redevelopment, as well as receiving updates on the changed financial planning process.
The council of governors as a whole had a busy and productive year. Meetings have been very well attended both in person and virtually.
EA handed over to Roger Spencer, The Christie Chief Executive to provide more information about the Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24.
- Report of the Chief Executive
RS introduced the summary of the annual report & accounts for the year 2023/24.
- Annual report and accounts 2023/24 and forward planning information
RS noted that we are passionately committed to improving the outcomes and experiences for cancer patients. In 2023/24 our team has delivered an outstanding set of results. Short film to be presented noted which describes some of the highlights, RS updated first on the key elements of the delivery of the Trust's requirements:
- Quality Standards
In 2023/24, The Christie continued to perform very well against our required quality standards including our safety measures such as extremely low infection rates, and carried on monitoring our waiting time targets to ensure that our patients continued to be seen as quickly as possible. We also worked across the system in Greater Manchester to prioritise cancer patients where there are still some long waits because of the ongoing impact of the pandemic. But most importantly we have received excellent feedback from our patients throughout the year giving us excellent outcome and experience results. You will hear more about this shortly.
- In terms of our Financial Performance
The Trust continues to have a strong grip on managing the finances during this challenging time. For 2023/24, we made a consolidated surplus of £6.8m (this includes The Christie Pharmacy (a subsidiary company of the Trust) and the Trust).
In 2023/24, the Trust has been paid under the national Aligned Payment and Incentive payment model. This payment regime comprises fixed and variable elements, with all activity that forms part of the Elective Recovery Fund, chemotherapy deliveries, outpatient diagnostic imaging, nuclear medicine and most high-cost drugs and devices now paid on a variable basis. NHS commissioners and NHS England have invested £49.2m more in patient treatments than in the previous year.
We have invested £32.9m on new assets including: Further Elective Recovery Targeted Investment Fund towards converting previous administrative space into additional ward capacity (due for completion in 24/25), the continuation of a multi-year replacement programme of our fleet of linear accelerators, new information technology and estates maintenance to ensure effective patient care.
- Auditors Opinion
We have been given a clean bill of health by our auditors who set out in their report that our accounts are a true representation and we pass the required efficient effective and economic tests.
- Regulators Assessment
We have complied with the required standards as well as achieving a rating of 2 in the NHS Oversight Framework which assesses performance across quality of care, finance and use of resources, operational performance, strategic change, and leadership and improvement capability.
The Highlights of the Year video was shown.
- Questions
Member expressed his thanks to all the staff at The Christie.
- Supportive Oncology at The Christie
Presented by Dr Richard Berman (RB), Supportive Care Consultant
RB introduced himself and team members and gave background to his role at The Christie.
In 1972, chance of survival following cancer diagnosis was 1 year on average, today this average is survival more than 10 years thanks to advancement in cancer treatments. Around 3m people in the UK currently living with cancer, expected to rise to 5m by 2040. Images of the proton beam therapy shared and background given.
Seeing metastatic cancer survivors now which 20 years ago would not have been heard of; treatments are transforming people’s lives.
Not just a cancer centre providing treatment, helping people live cancer every step of the way. As people now live longer with the disease, and for the many who survive it, we now need much more. A tsunami of cancer cases in older adults is expected who will go on to live with and survive cancer.
The Christie has been leading on developments in supportive oncology to make sure that people get the care they need, at every stage of their journey. An overview of the support that people need it and when they need it was provided along with the associated wide range of supportive care problems.
New initiative to work more closely and efficiently with UK Association of Supportive Care in Cancer (UKASCC).
The Christie is a world class cancer centre driving development of supportive oncology in the UK and beyond. Supportive oncology is low cost, high value ‐ this is about better use of existing services and teams. In total, £1,676,044 was spent delivering supportive care across eight centres; reductions in secondary care usage saved a total of £8,490,581.
Great to have management and a Board that listen and support, now have The Christie Supportive Oncology Directorate.
RB invited Helen, a patient, to join him and share her story. Helen gave the background to her time as a patient, both at another hospital and The Christie. The approach from RB and his team has completely changed her life and she has complete faith in them with regards to her care and treatment.
RB thanked Helen and invited questions.
Questions from attendees and a general discussion followed on the development of supportive care and thanks given to the team for all that they do in providing care and treatment to patients.
- RS thanked everyone for attending and for the support given.
Meeting closed.
Annual members' meeting - Wednesday 22 November 2023
By virtual means
Attendees - 43
- Edward Astle – Chairman
- Roger Spencer – Chief Executive
- Louise Westcott – Company Secretary (Minutes)
- Welcome and introduction
Edward Astle (EA) introduced himself as the new chair of the Trust and welcomed our members, governors, staff and volunteers to the meeting. This is our Annual Members meeting where we will be looking at the work and achievements of the Trust in 2022/23. We are virtual this year and are having our meeting a little later than usual for reasons that will be explained.
The Christie has responded in its usual committed and determined way to ensure the best possible cancer care. We have seen innovation and developments happen in the way we treat patients, as well as big steps taken towards our mission of providing world beating care, research and education. People and patients are at the centre of all this, and EA thanked everyone for their support.
I hope you enjoy the meeting and if you would like to find out more about the achievements in 2022/23 the annual report and accounts are available for you to access on our website on our Annual report and highlights of the year - 2022/23 page.
- Report from the Chairman
- Minutes
EA noted that the minutes for the previous annual members meeting from 4 October 2022 have been available on the website prior to today’s meeting. No corrections have been received so we will accept these as an accurate record.
- Governor elections and thanks
Sam Vickerman for the Tameside and Glossop constituency and Rachael Bailey for the other clinical professional staff constituency were both re-elected for a second term.
Philip Ormesher was elected to the Cheshire constituency, and we welcome back Susan Mee to the Oldham constituency.
We also have a new staff governor, Catherine O’Hara who has been elected as the governor for non-clinical staff.
Unfortunately, we did not fill 4 of our public constituencies and will look to fill these seats going forward.
We would like to congratulate our existing governors on being re-elected and extend a very warm welcome to our new governors.
On behalf of the Trust and the Council of Governors EA thanked our outgoing governors:
Alice Choi - completed 9 years as public governor for Cheshire and a member of the Development and Sustainability Committee
Dr Mohammad Qureshi – also completed 9 years as a public governor for Bury and a member of the Patient Safety and Experience Committee
Janice Moss - resigned as the partner governor for The Christie Charity in February 2023 after completing 5 and a half years as a governor and member of the Patient Safety and Experience Committee
Alison Calnan - resigned as the public governor for the Northwest in November 2022.
EA thanked our outgoing governors very much for their involvement and hope that you keep in touch.
- Appointment of Directors
EA updated the meeting on appointments and changes to the Board of Directors in 2022/23.
During 2022/23, there were no changes to the Board of Directors.
Further details about all the members of the Board of Directors are available on our website.
I can confirm that during 2022/23 the Nominations Committee recommended to the Council of Governors the reappointment of Kathryn Riddle, Jane Maher, Kieran Walshe, Tarun Kapur and Robert Ainsworth for a further 1 year. They also recommended a further 1-year term for Chris Outram as Chair.
These extensions were agreed by the Council of Governors.
EA noted that there have been some changes this year and these will be reported to the next meeting.
- Amendments to Trust constitution
EA noted that there were no changes to the constitution in 2022/23.
- Report from the council of governors
- EA noted that he is presenting this summary of the work of the council of governors and its committees in 2022/23. He thanked the Council of Governors for its continued commitment to carry on supporting the Trust.
Amongst other things the council has reviewed the appraisals of the non-executive
directors including the chairman and heard detail of the refreshed strategy of the Trust.
Much of the work of the council is done through their committees.
First off, the Membership and Community Engagement Committee has developed and been working to the Membership Strategy 2019 to 2023. This continues the work of the previous strategy with the focus on increasing engagement and representation in the membership. At the end of the year 2022/23, our total membership was 12,586 members (this is including staff and volunteers) - this has been reduced from around 30,000 members. The target membership is now 10,000 engaged members.
The Patient Safety and Experience Committee reviewed issues relating to patient safety, clinical effectiveness, and patient experience - the core strengths of the Trust. The ‘talking to patients’ initiative that has been so successful over the years and gives the governors direct engagement with patients, carers and frontline staff, continues to be popular and successful.
The Development and Sustainability Committee has been involved with the Annual Planning process in its changed form and has worked on reviewing progress against the Trust Strategy. This committee has also provided governor input to major capital programme developments including the now completed Paterson site redevelopment, as well as receiving updates on the changed financial planning process.
The Nominations Committee have recommended reappointments and the appointment of the new chair.
The council of governors had a busy and productive year. Meetings have been very well attended both in person and virtually.
I would now like to hand over to Roger Spencer, The Christie chief executive who will talk a bit more about the annual report and accounts 2022/23.
- Report of the Chief Executive
- Annual report and accounts, and future
RS introduced the summary of the annual report & accounts for the year 2022/23.
Annual report and accounts 2022/23 & forward planning information
RS noted that we are passionately committed to improving the outcomes and experiences for cancer patients. In 2022/23 our team has delivered an outstanding set of results. In a moment I'm going to show you a short film that describes some of the highlights, but first I want to tell you about some of the details.
RS updated on key elements of the delivery of the Trusts requirements.
- Quality Standards
In 2022/23, The Christie continued to perform very well against our required quality standards including our safety measures such as extremely low infection rates, and carried on monitoring our waiting time targets to ensure that our patients continued to be seen as quickly as possible. We also worked across the system in Greater Manchester to prioritise cancer patients where there are still some long waits because of the ongoing impact of the pandemic. But most importantly we have received excellent feedback from our patients throughout the year giving us excellent outcome and experience results. You will hear more about this shortly.
- In terms of our Financial Performance
In 2022/23 the Trust has continued to operate under the same financial regime which was introduced in 2020/21. This financial regime was a simplification of the funding flows which was introduced, due to the coronavirus pandemic. The NHS providers and their commissioners moved to a financial framework funding on block contracts and system partnership arrangements. The trust continues to have a strong grip on managing the finances.
For 2022/23, we made a consolidated surplus of £12.1m (this includes the Charity, The Christie Pharmacy (a subsidiary company of the Trust) and the Trust). NHS commissioners and NHS England have invested £36.9m more in patient treatments than in the previous year. The additional investment includes £10.3m of Elective Recovery Funding, this funding is to assist the Trust in achieving elective activity recovery with the aim of reducing the increased waiting lists and times resulting from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
During this financial year, the Charity received £16.2m total income and funded £0.5m of Capital projects.
We have invested £74.7m on new assets including: the completion of an integrated research facility to replace the fire damaged Paterson research building, the commencement of a multi-year replacement programme of our fleet of linear accelerators starting with the Oldham site, new information technology, and estates maintenance to ensure effective patient care.
- Auditors Opinion
We have been given a clean bill of health by our auditors who set out in their report that our accounts are a true representation, and we pass the required efficient effective and economic tests.
In respect to one transaction in-year relating to The Christie Charity, the Trust’s external auditor reported that in their view there was a significant weakness in the Trust’s governance arrangements relating to a single transaction. This related to the Trust not receiving approval from HM Treasury. The Trust had received legal advice that we could go ahead with this transaction and there was an understanding that other Trusts had entered similar transactions. However, the external auditor recommended the Trust seeks advice from NHS England and HM Treasury regarding its compliance with Managing Public Money. The Trust has discussed this matter with NHS England and sought retrospective approval for the transaction from HM Treasury. This approval has not been received at the date of this report. The external auditor also recommended that, prior to making any similar transactions in the future, the Trust seeks advice and/or approval, as applicable, from NHS England and HM Treasury as part of its assessment of compliance with HM Treasury’s Managing Public Money.
This delayed our ability to lay the Annual Report & Accounts before parliament thus delaying the meeting. This has now been done and is resolved.
- Regulators Assessment
We have complied with the required standards as well as achieving the best possible rating (1) in the System Oversight Framework which assesses performance across quality of care, finance and use of resources, operational performance, strategic change, and leadership and improvement capability.
- CQC
In October 2022, the CQC undertook a routine inspection of a core service, medical services. The well led part of the inspection followed in November 2022 and the Trust received the outcome report and rating in May 2023, the overall rating received was Good. An action plan was submitted in response to the report, which has been published on the Trust's website.
The Review of the Year video was shown.
- Questions
Questions and comments were invited.
- Question: What are you building next to the Patterson building on Oak side.
Response: Ee have submitted a planning application for an Advanced Scanning and Imaging Centre, with associated clinical accommodation. It is a 3-storey building that will replace the current outdated accommodation for CT scanning to allow for a much better patient experience and to accommodate the latest equipment. There will also be scope to use the upper floors for more up-to-date inpatient accommodation in the future.
- Comments:
- This video is amazing.
- Stacey's story has brought a tear to my eye, what an amazing woman.
- What a fantastic overview of The Christie services!
Annual members' meeting - Wednesday 4 October 2022
By virtual means
Attendees - 45
- Chris Outram – Chairman
- Roger Spencer – Chief Executive
- Neil Bayman – Executive Medical Director
- Sally Parkinson – Interim Executive Medical Director
- Louise Westcott – Company Secretary (Minutes)
- Welcome and introduction
CO welcomed our members, governors, staff and volunteers. This is our third virtual Annual Members meeting and we will be looking at the work and achievements of the trust in 2021/22.
It was a difficult year with the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 global pandemic.
The Christie has responded in its usual committed and determined way to ensure cancer care has safely continued where possible throughout this time. The pandemic has meant that we have worked differently and we have seen innovation and developments happen in the way we treat patients, as well as big steps taken towards our mission of providing world beating care, research and education. People – and patients are at the centre of all this and I thank you all for your support.
I hope you enjoy the meeting and if you would like to find out more about the achievements in 2021/22 the annual report and accounts are available for you to access on our website.
- Report from the Chairman
- Minutes
CO noted that the minutes for the previous annual members meeting from 3 November 2021 have been available on the website prior to today’s meeting. No corrections have been received so we will accept these as an accurate record.
- Governor elections and thanks
CO announced the results of the governor elections;
Paula Turner was re-elected in the Manchester constituency.
Alison Calnan was elected to the Northwest constituency, Andrew Butler to the Remainder of England and Wales, Michael Molete to Manchester and Linda Seddon to Trafford.
We also have 2 new staff governors, Gemma Jones has been elected as the governor for registered nurses and Dr Kantappa Gajanan has been elected as the governor for registered medical professionals.
Unfortunately we did not fill 2 of our public constituencies – Bolton and Rochdale, and will look to fill these seats going forward.
We would like to congratulate our existing governor on being re-elected and extend a very warm welcome to our new governors.
On behalf of the Trust and the Council of Governors I would like to thank our outgoing governors;
Colin Bamford completed 3 years as public governor for Trafford and a member of the Development and Sustainability Committee
Victoria Hallam completed 3 years as a public governor for the Remainder of England & Wales and a member of the Quality Committee
Janet Morley completed 2½ years as a public governor for Manchester and a member of the Membership and Community Engagement Committee
Matt Bilney completed 6 years as a staff governor for the Registered Nurses and was a very valued member of the Quality Committee.
We also very sadly lost Prof Amit Patel, who passed away in October 2021. Amit was one of our consultants and a hugely talented and valued member of staff. Amit was our staff governor for the registered medical practitioners’ constituency from 2020.
CO thanked our outgoing governors very much for their involvement.
- Appointment of Directors
CO updated the meeting on appointments and changes to the Board of Directors in 2021/22.
From our executive directors; Joanne Fitzpatrick retired as Director of Finance in December 2021.
Joanne sadly passed away in January 2022 having worked at The Christie for over 30 years, during this time she worked closely with a range of teams both at The Christie and in other trusts across Greater Manchester. She was a trusted and valued colleague who made a hugely positive impact on all who knew her, as well as having a major influence on our organisation. She is very much missed.
Sally Parkinson was appointed as the Interim Director of Finance from July 2021.
Dr Wendy Makin retired as Executive Medical Director at the end of April 2021 having worked at The Christie since the 1980s. Her contribution to the Board and the organisation as a clinician was significant and I’d like to thank her here for her huge contribution over those years.
Dr Neil Bayman was appointed as Executive Medical Director in September 2021 and came in to post from 1 November 2021.
From our non-executive directors’; Neil Large came to the end of his term after 8 years on the Board on 31 October 2021, Grenville Page started with the Board on 1 September 2021 and Alveena Malik was appointed as a non-executive director from 1 October 2021. We welcome both of you to the Board.
Further details about all the members of the Board of Directors are available on our website.
CO confirmed that during 2021/22 the Nominations Committee recommended to the Council of Governors the reappointment of Neil Large, Kathryn Riddle, Jane Maher, Kieran Walshe, Tarun Kapur and Robert Ainsworth for a further 1 year. They also recommended a further 1-year term for me as Chair. These extensions were agreed by the council of governors.
- Amendments to trust constitution
CO updated on changes that have been made to the Trust Constitution in 2021/22.
There have been minor updates throughout the document to references to NHSEI (previously NHSE / Monitor) and updates to descriptions of job titles to bring them in line with current descriptions. There have been no other major changes.
- Report from the council of governors
- CO noted a brief summary of the work of the council of governors and its committees in 2021/22. She thanked the Council of Governors for its continued commitment and ability to adapt to the virtual ways of working throughout 2021/22. Members have continued to work virtually in their committees in order to carry on supporting the Trust.
The Membership & Community Engagement Committee has developed and been working to the Membership Strategy 2019 – 2022, as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic the strategy has been extended to run to the end of March 2023. This continues the work of the previous strategy with the main focus on increasing engagement and representation in the membership. At the end of the year 2021/22 our total membership was 13,998 members (this is including staff and volunteers), this has been reduced from around 30,000 members. The target membership is now 10,000 engaged members.
The Quality Committee reviewed issues relating to patient safety, clinical effectiveness and patient experience. The ‘talking to patients’ initiative that has been so successful over the years and gives the governors direct engagement with patients, carers and frontline staff, continued to be paused throughout 2021/22. This was due to the necessary restrictions that were in place onsite and the reduced footfall through the Trust. The Quality Committee also received and reviewed the quality accounts for the year.
The Development & Sustainability Committee has been involved with the Annual Planning process in its changed form and has worked on reviewing progress against the Trust Strategy. This committee has also provided governor input to major capital programme developments including the Paterson site redevelopment, Christie at Macclesfield Cancer Centre and the tiered car park, as well as receiving updates on the changed financial planning process.
The council of governors as a whole had a good and busy year despite the restrictions. Meetings have been very well attended virtually. Amongst other things the council has reviewed the appraisals of the non-executive directors including the chairman and heard detail of the refreshed strategy of the Trust and the ongoing management of the COVID-19 pandemic at the Trust.
Another busy and productive year for the council of governors.
CO handed over to Roger Spencer The Christie Chief Executive to talk a bit more about the annual report and accounts 2021/22.
- Report of the Chief Executive
- Annual report & accounts and future plans
Annual report and accounts 2021/22 & forward planning information
RS noted that at The Christie we are passionately committed to improving the outcomes and experiences for cancer patients. In 2021/22 our team has delivered an outstanding set of results under very difficult circumstances. RS noted that we will show a short film that describes some of the highlights, but first outlined some of the details.
Quality Standards
Due to the continued impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a change to the reporting requirements for key standards as the energy of the NHS continued to deal with the impact of the pandemic. At The Christie, we continued to monitor all of our required quality standards across the year including our safety measures such as extremely low infection rates and carried on monitoring our waiting time targets to ensure that our patients continued to be seen as quickly as possible. We also worked across the system in Greater Manchester to prioritise cancer patients and continue to ensure cancer surgery was undertaken. But most importantly we have received excellent feedback from our patients throughout the year giving us excellent outcome and experience results.
In terms of our Financial Performance – In 2021/22 the Trust has continued to operate under the same financial regime which was introduced in the previous year.
This financial regime was a simplification of the funding flows which was introduced, due to the coronavirus pandemic. The NHS providers and their commissioners moved to a financial framework funding mainly on block contracts and system partnership arrangements. The trust continues to have a strong grip on managing the finances during this unprecedented time.
For 2021/22, we made a consolidated surplus of £22.6m (this includes the charity, The Christie Pharmacy (a subsidiary company of the Trust) and the Trust).
NHS commissioners and NHS England have invested £22.7m more in patient treatments than in the previous year. The additional investment includes £4.4m Elective Recovery Funding, this funding is to assist the Trust in achieving elective activity recovery with the aim of reducing the increased waiting lists and times resulting from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The additional investment also includes £8.1m relating to the Block contact/System Envelope Funding which was agreed at an Integrated Care System level.
During this financial year the charity received £13.2m total income and funded £15.6m of capital projects. Charity capital contribution in 2021/22 related to the development of the Christie at Macclesfield cancer centre which opened in December 2021.
We have invested £100.2m on new assets including: Continuing development of an integrated research facility to replace the fire damaged Paterson research building (completion due 2022-23), new information technology and estates maintenance to ensure effective patient care.
Auditors Opinion
We have been given a clean bill of health by our auditors – who set out in their report that our accounts are a true representation and we pass the required efficient effective and economic tests.
Regulators Assessment
We have complied with the required standards as well as achieving the best possible rating (1) in the Single Oversight Framework which assesses performance across quality of care, finance and use of resources, operational performance, strategic change and leadership and improvement capability.
A short film was shown that focused on the experience of a number of patients who were treated in 2021/22.
- Questions
Questions and comments were invited.
- Are patients being seen within 24 days after referred for treatment, need some data for this question?
RS responded that the up-to-date information on our performance targets is available in the Public Board papers on the Trust website in the Integrated Performance, Quality amd Finance Report.
- What a fabulous film. Really reflects what The Christie is all about
- What are the long-term plans for the Palatine Rd site (former Bridge Club)?
There are currently no plans for this site.
- Thank you both for a very interesting presentation!
- Are you planning any more centres like Macclesfield?
There are currently no plans for a further centre like Macclesfield.
CO thanked everyone for attending and for the support given in very difficult times. CO noted we will continue to educate, research and care for patients.
Meeting closed.
