Based at Leeds Children’s Hospital, the team work across three wards. L31 is Children’s oncology and haematology ward for patients aged 0 to 12 years, L32 is our Stem Cell Transplant ward for children and teenagers, and L33 is our Teenage Cancer Trust unit.
All three wards work closely together and they have the same senior nursing and medical team responsible for treatment and care. This means that patients receive consistent care wherever they are in the unit from a team that they know and trust.
As well as the nurses, there’s a dedicated multi-disciplinary team, which includes doctors, charitable workers, education staff, occupational therapists, play specialists, physiotherapists, pharmacists, social workers, speech and language therapists, dietitians, clinical support workers, psychologists, youth workers, ward clerks, catering and so many more, who all play an important role in caring for our young patients.
The unit is supported by our fantastic charity partners, including Candlelighters – a local children’s cancer charity – and the Teenage Cancer Trust. They have both helped us to improve facilities for patients and families on the ward, and fund a number of additional posts which add that extra dimension to the care provided by our core team.
Medical Team
Your child will have been referred to one of the departments’ consultants. Your Consultant, along with other members of the team, will lead the planning and management of your child’s treatment and care with you. The Consultants are experts in your child’s condition and have overall responsibility for their treatment.
There are several other doctors working both on the ward and in clinic. They have different levels of expertise and experience, and some of them change every six months or so as they are learning about all aspects of working with sick children and teenagers. You will see some of these doctors more frequently than your child’s consultant, but they keep your child’s consultant informed of their progress. Your child’s consultant will be involved in any of the big decisions about your child’s treatment and will discuss them with you. One of the consultants is always on-call (day & night) for any problems which may arise.
Professor of Paediatric Oncology and Late Effects Medicine and Honorary Consultant
Qualifications: BSc(Hons) MBBS DM MRCP(UK) FRCPCH
Special Interests: Long-term follow-up of individuals following cancer treatment, reproductive health and cancer, paediatric and adolescent oncology.
Biography: Adam studied at Imperial College (Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School) and qualified as a doctor in 1989. He trained in general paediatrics in London, Northampton and Oxford. Paediatric Oncology specialist training was undertaken in Nottingham, Toronto (Hospital for Sick Children) and at Great Ormond Street Hospital, London.
Adam was appointed Consultant Paediatric Oncologist in Leeds in 1999. Since then he has developed the multi-disciplinary long-term follow-up programme and co-leads the regional fertility preservation clinic.
He has been National Clinical Lead for Cancer Survivorship with NHS Improvement (2009-2012) and Clinical Director of the National Cancer Survivorship Initiative at the Department of Health, England (2010 to 2013).
Research into the late effects of cancer has continued since his doctoral research in Nottingham (DM 1999: Health Status Following Therapeutic Interventions in Young People). He has published extensively on the late effects of cancer and is frequently invited to speak at national and international conferences. Adam was appointed Professor of Paediatric Oncology and Late Effects Medicine at the University of Leeds in 2015. He leads the Cancer Survivor Intelligence Group (CSI Leeds) and is involved in major collaborative research and training programmes with grants in excess of £5 million.
http://lida.leeds.ac.uk/adam-glaser
Secretary – Barbara Hills 0113 3928779
Honorary Consultant in Paediatric Oncologist
Secretary – Barbara Hills 0113 3928779
Dr Bob Phillips is an Honorary Consultant in Paediatric Oncology. He started in Leeds as a Registrar in 2004.
“The team in Paediatric Haematology and Oncology make me proud to work here every single day. They really do the very most to deliver brilliant care for all of our patients,” explained Bob. “I look forward to work because I know that I make a difference, be it on the ward, in clinic or conducting research. In my role I feel privileged to have made an impact on so many lives, hopefully for the better.”
“The relationships built between myself, as a doctor, my patients and their families bring real joy. It is wonderful to see them grow up, achieve milestones and, hopefully, finish treatment,” he said. “There are, of course, some lows and emotionally difficult situations, with some children having cancers that escape our treatments, and dying of their disease. However, it is my role to ensure that whatever life they have is lived to the fullest.”
Bob works for both LTHT and the University of York and dedicates part of his time to research projects. As a consultant, he is also responsible for helping to educate the next generation of children’s cancer doctors and oversees junior colleagues working within the Trust.
While in the hospital his time is shared between wards, clinics and teaching. He works as part of a wider multidisciplinary team (MDT) to ensure that patients receive a wide range of professional opinions and the best possible care.
“My time is split 50/50 between the University and the Trust, both roles complementing each other. What’s good about Leeds is that we integrate research in nearly everything we do within children’s cancer and this, in turn, contributes to how we tackle the condition in the future,” he explained
Children’s Haematology and Oncology Outreach Clinical Nurse Specialists (CHOOT)
We are a team of nurses who have specialist knowledge and experience in children’s cancer nursing and palliative care. We work as part of the multi-disciplinary team providing key worker support to children, young people and their families throughout their cancer journey. Based at the Leeds Children’s Hospital we work both in the hospital and the community.
How to contact us
The service is available: Monday to Friday 8.00 am – 6.00 pm.
We can be contacted on: 0113 3922323
An answer phone is in operation to take any message should we be unavailable. We aim to respond to any messages the same day, however this may be the next working day. A member of the team is hospital based Monday to Friday 8am – 6pm. If you need to speak to a nurse specialist urgently please contact either the day care unit or the inpatient wards and ask them to contact the nurse of the day.
TYA Team
The Teenage and Young Adult Cancer (TYA) service is based in Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust. It covers the Yorkshire, Humber and the Yorkshire coast region; a population of approx. 4m. The service supports the medical, physical, emotional and social needs of young cancer patients aged 13 to 24yrs.
The team focuses on young people as individuals rather than defining them as cancer patients. They are young people first, who happen to have cancer.
The wards and outpatient areas have been developed by LTHT and the enhancements have been supported by Teenage Cancer Trust (TCT) The wards provide a ‘One Unit- Two Site’ model whereby the unit for younger patients at the LGI is managed by Children’s Services, and the unit at SJUH is managed by the Oncology service (adult) This service model has gained national and international recognition and is seen as providing excellent care to this group of patients.
TYA contact details
TYA Clinical Nurse Specialist (16 to 24 years) – Tel: 0113 2067799
TCT Youth Support Coordinators – Tel: 0113 3920957 (Ward L33), 07775 572960 or 07775 546052 (Mobile).
Teenage Cancer Trust Units
Ward L33, Leeds General Infirmary – 0113 3927433
Ward J94, St James’s Hospital – 0113 2069194
Play Team
Play is at the very centre of a healthy child’s life. From the earliest age, playing helps children to learn, to relate to other people and to have fun. When children or teenagers are admitted to hospital, they are at their most vulnerable. They are not only ill, but are also separated from their friends and familiar surroundings. Play can really make a difference.
Working closely as part of the multi-disciplinary team, hospital play specialists and play leaders:
- Organise daily play and art activities in the playroom or at the bedside provide play to achieve developmental goals
- Help children master and cope with anxieties and feelings
- Use play to prepare children for hospital procedures
- Support families and siblings
- Contribute to clinical judgements through their play-based observations
- Teach the value of play for the sick child
- Encourage peer group friendships to develop
- Organise parties and special events
Play staff are based on the wards, Day Unit, Radiotherapy and outreach to the community.
Family Support Workers
These members of the team are here to help support parents and families staying on the ward. They are employed by ‘Candlelighters’; our local charity and are an important part of the multi-disciplinary team.
They aim to support parents in any way they need. They provide practical help – for example in sitting with your child whilst you take a break; making sure you get something to eat and drink, or just a bit of ‘time out’. They help to look after the bed space and the parents’ kitchen – ask them if we run out of any supplies. They can tell you about the facilities we have for parents who are resident on the ward – and make sure you know your way around.
They also provide an ‘ever ready ear’ – and like all the team, are ready to listen to your concerns and provide support at difficult times. They can tell you about all the support Candlelighters provide.
They work closely with our ‘dinner lady’ – funded by Candlelighters, and you will recognise them all by their bright pink T-shirts!
Learning Mentors and Teachers
The Learning Mentors provide pastoral support to the young person or child and their families regarding educational issues.
They liaise with school or college whilst children or young people are in hospital and keep them updated as to their progress. The Learning Mentors attend a weekly update meeting with the medical, nursing and therapy staff to share information with other outside agencies if appropriate. They help support re-integration back into school.
The hospital teachers deliver the teaching either on the ward or in the purpose built schoolroom. There are specialist primary and secondary teachers who can support the child or young person whether they are just starting school, or they need to revise for GCSEs. They aim to devise a personal education plan for each long-term patient so that the education that they receive in hospital is both relevant and appropriate.
Should the child or young person require home teaching at the end of their hospital admission the Learning Mentors can arrange that with the Local Authority.
Social Workers
The Social Workers are funded by Young Lives v’s Cancer and work with children, teenagers and young people, up to the age of twenty-four who have a cancer diagnosis and their families.
The involvement of the Social Worker often begins at diagnosis. A key role is to help families receive integrated health, social care and education services. The support they receive is very individual and includes any or all of the following: emotional support (coping with the diagnosis, support for the child, parents and siblings as well as extended family), financial help, signposting to welfare benefits support, liaison with schools, colleges and universities, liaison with employers, housing, youth justice, immigration, domestic violence, child protection and local social services departments etc., and referral for volunteer support.
The length of Social Work support offered to children and young people is dependent on outcomes of an assessment. This could be short- or long-term work.
The Social Worker’s work closely with staff from the multi-disciplinary team to provide a high standard of support for patients and their families.
Support Groups currently available include:
Psychologists
Clinical Psychologists are part of the Psychosocial team. We offer a confidential service offering psychological therapeutic interventions to inpatients, outpatients and young people from diagnosis through to five years off treatment.
Where are we based?
We are based at the two hospital sites LGI and St James’s University Hospital. We work with inpatients on the Children’s, Teenage and Young Adult wards and outpatient areas across both sites.
We work with children, teenagers, young adults and/ or family members (including siblings). We also work with the rest of the Oncology Team to offer consultation, teaching and training on psychosocial aspects of care for children and young people with cancer.
Some of the ways that Clinical Psychologists can help include:
- Contributing to the team, helping children and young people to access normal activities including playing, learning, and socialising with other young people to encourage their continuing development
- Offering support and advice to parents and staff to help young people express their feelings, either through playing, talking or other creative activities
- Offering psychological support and advice to parents in relation to their child’s illness where required
- We sometimes work jointly or alongside other team members and with families to minimise distress cause by illness, procedures, and treatments
- We offer assessment of behaviour, emotions, and family functioning where families experience difficulties and need specific psychological input and support.
- We offer a variety of psychological interventions/ therapies to young people and their families, including siblings
How can you access the Clinical Psychology Service
You can ask any member of the Children/TYA team if you want to speak with a Clinical Psychologist. They will then contact us to make a referral. Sometimes team members talk with families about referring them to our Psychology Service too. We ask all team members to seek your permission and consent to being referred before they contact us about a referral. You may see us on the wards or in clinic please feel free to come and introduce yourself and ask any questions any time that you see us!
Physiotherapists
Throughout the course of your child’s treatment there may be times when they require the intervention of one of our physiotherapists.
Physiotherapy services are provided during the week Monday to Friday 8.30am to 4.30pm by the paediatric physiotherapy team on the wards and in clinic.
Children and Teenagers can be seen for acute chest physiotherapy at night or over the weekend by a member of the paediatric physiotherapy staff.
The Physiotherapists see children and teenagers to help with mobility, loss of function, musculo-skeletal problems, chest infections, fatigue and delayed development. We also advise on how to maintain an appropriate level of physical fitness and exercise throughout and following treatment.
If you feel that your child may benefit from having the input of a physiotherapist please inform a physiotherapist or any member of staff as we are happy to see parents and children for advice at any time.