The Birmingham Paediatric ECMC is based at Birmingham Children’s Hospital, at the heart of the city at our Steelhouse Lane site. The unit provides specialist care for patients under the age of 16, with thriving teenagers and young adults (16-24) service managed in conjunction with University Hospitals Birmingham at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
The centre sees approximately 250 new cases per year across a wide geographical area, and frequently accepts referrals for early phase trial participation from centres nationwide. BCH is also the central hub for the Midlands Paediatric Oncology Shared Care Centres network which sees collaboration with smaller units across the Midlands.
The centre is currently in the process of facilities redevelopment, with the unit having outgrown its current home on ward 15 and oncology outpatients. In summer 2017 the £40 million, cancer and rare diseases centre is due to be completed; bringing world class facilities to what is already a world class care provider.
The Team:
BCH has an experienced medical and research team with 8 consultant paediatric oncologists and 6 consultant paediatric haematologists, many of whom are national or international clinical trial leads. The research team itself consists of 3 Senior Research Nurses, 4 data managers and a trials coordinator.
Paediatric Experience:
The cancer research team at BCH was established in 1984 and during this time over 5000 patients have participated in over 200 programmes of research within the department. With such a long history of providing innovative care to children and young adults, BCH has a well-established infrastructure for the management and provision of early phase clinical trials, and so also has European Network of Clinical Trials (ITCC) status.
The department has an extensive and diverse study portfolio with 61 studies currently active or in set-up at site with 21 of these being phase I or phase II clinical trials. The department also has an extensive basic science and observational research interest with 22 active studies, many of these provided in conjunction with the University of Birmingham with whom we have a close working relationship, with 3 of our consultant team holding academic titles with the University.
The unit has a strong track record with providing excellent patient care on clinical trials and has been awarded the West Midlands Clinical Research Network prize for patient engagement and recruitment for 2015/16.
