Ten facts about The Royal Marsden

1. The Royal Marsden is the world’s oldest hospital dedicated to cancer treatment, research and education. Today, The Royal Marsden is the largest comprehensive cancer centre in Europe treating over 40,000 patients every year
2. We are ranked as one of the best performing Trusts in the country and we are the only Trust to be awarded the highest score of “excellent” for both quality of services and use of resources in the Healthcare Commission’s Annual Health Check two years in a row.
3. The Trust was one of the first hospitals to be awarded NHS Foundation Trust status in April 2004. Becoming a Foundation Trust has allowed us to invest in new services and facilities. Examples include the introduction of the Picture Archiving and Communications System, which revolutionises the way x-rays and scans are stored and Patient Navigators, who track and monitor all clinical information to ensure patients receive a faster referral to The Royal Marsden.
4. Together with our academic partner The Institute of Cancer Research, The Royal Marsden has discovered or developed more new anti-cancer drugs than other comparable research institution worldwide.
5. And with the ICR, we are the UK’s only designated Biomedical Research Centre for Cancer – awarded in December 2006 by The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR).
6. Our Drug Development Unit is rated doubly outstanding by Cancer Research UK, the leading independent cancer research organisation.
7. The 7th Edition of The Royal Marsden Manual of Clinical Nursing Practice, the best selling nursing textbook worldwide, is due for publication in July 2008.
8. The Healthcare Commission 2007 Inpatient Survey proved that patients rated The Royal Marsden top for the overall care they received whilst in the hospital, the respect and dignity they received, pain control, cleanliness and their trust in staff care.  94% of patients rated us excellent or very good for inpatient care well above the national average of 77%.  We were also the top hospital in the country for treating our patients with respect and dignity during their stay with us. 
9. Patients and peers scored the Trust as ‘excellent’ through the Patient Environment Action Team (PEAT) assessment.  The PEAT involves assessment teams made up of patients, members of the public and NHS staff rating all NHS hospitals from excellent through to unacceptable.
10. In 2007, The Royal Marsden Cancer Campaign raised more than £6 million, bringing the total monies raised to £43 million since 2004.  This money goes straight to where it works best, developing improved facilities for patients, such as new theatres and day units, enabling us to treat them faster and more effectively.

And one fact that is a given…..

Our patients and their families know and feel we always go the extra mile.  
Everything we do is about the patient: 

• Multi-disciplinary teams to make treatment and care more effective
• Innovative leading edge equipment to ensure the best kind of treatment
• Incredible research facilities to try and crack the code for cancer and make life better
• A strict regime of cleanliness to keep one of the lowest levels of MRSA even lower
• Therapists, nurses, consultants and volunteers who deliver “extras” – art therapy, aromatherapy, cups of tea in china cups
• A management team that cares about cancer care not only at The Royal Marsden but nationally too – with our CEO effecting change in all areas of cancer health care.