Fourteen neuro centres announced as Tessa Jowell Centres of Excellence

16 May 2025 | News, Campaigning and research, Collaborations

Brain Tumour Support CEO, Emma McKeown, and Head of Support Services, Lucy Wilkinson, were delighted to join NHS teams, other charity leaders and MPs at the prestigious Francis Crick Institute last night to celebrate fourteen UK hospitals being designated Tessa Jowell Centres of Excellence for their brain tumour services.

Brain Tumour Support is proud to work with the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission (TJBCM) which has committed to ensuring all UK patients with a brain tumour can access the best standard of treatment, care and research, through the Tessa Jowell Centre of Excellence initiative, first launched in 2020.

The centres were awarded for the excellent treatment, care and research they provide to patients with a brain tumour. In each centre, the whole team treating brain tumours, from surgeons and nurses through to physiotherapists, palliative care specialists and researchers, came together to undergo a rigorous assessment of their services by a committee of clinical, research and patient experts. The Centre of Excellence designation gives patients the confidence that they are receiving the highest standard of care, while also encouraging other hospitals to work towards higher standards of care.

Professor Ros Quinlivan, who led the review process, said: ‘Having led similar initiatives in other disease areas, I was struck by the level of commitment and compassion in all the teams who took part in the Centre of Excellence initiative, with innovative examples of treatment and care present in every centre. The most exciting part of this process is the work, already underway, to share these exceptional practices and drive forward national collaboration on key challenges.’

After the awards evening, our Head of Support Services, Lucy Wilkinson, said:

‘It was fantastic to see some of the teams that we work so closely with amongst the centres recognised in this year’s awards. We know just how dedicated and passionate they are in their desire to deliver the best care and outcomes possible for all those facing this devastating diagnosis.’

The newly awarded centres have demonstrated progress in areas such as holistic care, advancements in genomics and access to clinical trials. Experts highlighted many new innovations within services, from the use of virtual reality in post-operative recovery and technology to speed up molecular diagnosis, to new models of palliative care. The awarded centres also met new and higher standards in areas such as neurological symptom management and psychological support, informed by key patient priorities and work of charity campaigners. These improvements demonstrate the outstanding commitment of NHS teams to driving innovation and elevating care, in a landscape of stretched resources, backed up by rigorous standards, national data collection and best practice sharing.

The full list of awarded centres is:

• Barts Health NHS Trust
• East Midlands Neuro-Oncology Service(Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, University Hospitals Leicester NHS Trust, University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Trust and United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust)
• East of England Neuro-Oncology Network
• King’s Health Partners (King’s College Hospital, Guy’s and St Thomas’s Hospitals and Kent Oncology Centre)
• Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
• Liverpool and North Wales Neuro-Oncology Network(The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust, Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust and the North Wales Cancer Treatment Centre)
• Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
• Oxford and the Thames Valley Neuro-Oncology Network(Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Northampton General Hospital, Royal Berkshire Hospital, Great Western Hospital, Stoke Mandeville Hospital, Milton Keynes General Hospital)
• Plymouth and the Peninsula Neuro-Oncology Network(University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust, Royal Cornwall Hospital, Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Trust and Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust).
• Salford Royal Hospital and The Christie NHS Foundation Trust
• Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
• St George’s University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust
• The South Wales Neuro-Oncology Network(University Hospital of Wales, Velindre Cancer Centre and the South West Wales Cancer Centre)
• West Midlands Neuro-Oncology Network(University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust and University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust)

Professor Richard Gilbertson, Chair of the TJBCM and Chair of Oncology at the University of Cambridge, explained: ‘The Centre of Excellence programme continues to give us an unprecedented view of the treatment, care and research of brain tumours in the UK. We now know better than ever where the NHS is excelling, but also where we need to come together to collectively address national challenges.’

Funded and supported by the UK Government and the TJBCM’s partner charities, the nationwide review will add to TJBCM’s in-depth understanding of UK brain tumour services.

Read more about the Tessa Jowell Centre of Excellence for Adults