Leading the way for novel cancer therapies education

The Florence Nightingale School of Nursing & Midwifery at King’s and Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust (GSTT) is leading the way in the field of novel cancer therapies multi-disciplinary medical and health education with an innovative master class on Friday 21 January 2011.

Following the Department of Health’s announcement in July of a New Cancer Drugs Fund, this year an additional £50m in funding is to be dedicated to helping cancer patients receive innovative new cancer drugs. The funding means that cancer patients will be able to access these drugs now to help extend life or improve quality of life, ahead of longer term plans to change the way the NHS pays for drugs. This has and will continue to increase access and use of novel cancer therapies and there is an urgent need for health professionals who work in this area to have up to date information about this ever expanding area of oncology care.

This one day master class for specialist practitioners caring for cancer patients receiving novel therapies, sees the School partner with Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust (GSTT). GSTT provides a cancer service as part of the South East London Cancer Network, which has a catchment population of 1.5 million and diagnoses 6,300 new cancers annually. GSTT’s vision is to provide the best comprehensive cancer services to our patients, combining first class clinical care with ground breaking research which includes developing and implementing novel therapy approaches into practice.

The master class will bring together medical trainees, nurses, research nurses, pharmacists and allied health professionals from the field of oncology as well as general practitioners, to advance their knowledge and practice and learn from nationally and internationally known experts on novel cancer therapeutics.

The master class will offer practitioners the forum for debate and the opportunity to look to the future development in novel therapies.