SWAG Cancer Alliance and Bristol Children’s Hospital partner to improve outpatient care for children with cancer

SWAG Cancer Alliance and Bristol Royal Hospital for Children are proud to announce a new partnership focused on improving care for children with cancer across the South West.

The project will explore how more treatments, particularly chemotherapy, can be delivered on an outpatient or ambulatory basis, reducing the need for prolonged hospital stays. The aim is to ease the emotional and logistical burden on families and enable children to spend more time at home or closer to home, where they belong.

SWAG Cancer Alliance is providing funding to support this important initiative, which will be used to increase staffing and allow the clinical teams time to assess how new models of care could be introduced.

Helen Winter, Clinical Director at SWAG Cancer Alliance, said: “We already have an excellent model of care for paediatric cancer patients in the South West. Supporting this project to build on that foundation is something we’re incredibly proud to do.”

Dr Rachel Cox, Cancer Lead at University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust (UHBW) added: “Advances in paediatric oncology are creating new opportunities to deliver treatments in outpatient settings rather than requiring long hospital stays. These approaches are being adopted across the UK and internationally, and we want to ensure families in our region benefit too. Working with SWAG Cancer Alliance allows us to explore how we can make that happen locally.”

Ambulatory chemotherapy refers to cancer treatment that is delivered in an outpatient setting, meaning patients do not need to be admitted to hospital. Instead, children receive their chemotherapy in a clinic or day unit and return home the same day, meaning greater comfort and enabling children to maintain routines and spend more time in familiar environments. It also means fewer disruptions to school, work and family life and can reduce the anxiety and stress for both children and their caregivers.

Each year, around 150 children in the South West are diagnosed with cancer, with all receiving their diagnosis and initial treatment at Bristol Royal Hospital for Children at UHBW. Teams across the region work collaboratively as part of the Children, Teenage and Young Adult Cancer (CTYA) Operational Delivery Network, ensuring services are equitable and sustainable, and continually striving to improve the experience of care for patients and their families.

This new project represents a significant step forward in making cancer care more child and family-centred, and in aligning the South West with best practices seen across the UK and beyond.

September marks Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, an international campaign to raise awareness of childhood cancers, support affected children and families, and drive progress in research and treatment. Here at SWAG, we are committed to ensuring our work reaches and impacts our younger cancer patients across the region, where a cancer diagnosis can have a devastating impact on not just the young person at the centre of it, but their wider family and support network. Find out more about Childhood Cancer Awareness Month here.