Our Children’s Hospital providing cancer care for Ukrainian refugees
Experts in paediatric cancer care from our Children’s Hospital have played a pivotal role in the evacuation of 21 Ukrainian children to England for NHS cancer treatment.
Dr Martin English, Consultant Paediatric Oncologist, flew out to Poland to assist in the evacuation and accompanied the children on the flight to the UK on Sunday night.
Our Children’s Hospital is a leading specialist paediatric centre in the UK, caring for sick children and young people up to the age of 16. Rated as ‘Outstanding’ by the CQC, we are considered a global centre of excellence for complex heart conditions, the treatment of burns, cancer and liver and kidney disease. We are also one of the 12 Children’s Cancer Principal Treatment Centres (PTC) in England.
Ongoing cancer care for the Ukrainian children will be co-ordinated and provided across the network of PTCs in the four UK home nations.
Dr English, Clinical Lead for Paediatric Medical Oncology said:
“I’m pleased to say the children are all safe and doing as well as expected, especially after all the trauma they have endured.
“On arrival, the team were able to assess the children and take care of any immediate medical needs and then allow them to eat, rest and sleep before arranging for them to go to the most appropriate centre and I’m very proud that our facility in Birmingham will be able to provide expert cancer care for some of those children.”
Amongst the team who triaged the children on arrival was Dr Fiona Reynolds, Chief Medical Officer. Fiona said:
“We are incredibly proud that we have been able to help in some way to support the people of Ukraine.
“We have some of the best clinicians in the world, therefore being able to offer even a small number of children, the cancer care they so desperately need at a time when they are not only suffering ill health but with the devastation happening in their country, is the very least we can do.”