Outstanding Care Award

Tameside Acute Oncology Service

Tameside & Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust

The Acute Oncology Team at Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust (Nicola, Louise and Kostas) exemplify the highest standards of compassionate, professional, and patient centred care. They consistently ensure that every patient and family feels supported, informed, and valued during the most challenging moments of their cancer journey. Their blend of clinical expertise and genuine empathy not only enhances patient experience but also drives meaningful improvements in outcomes.

The team work seamlessly together, respond rapidly to need, and routinely exceed expectations, demonstrating a commitment to excellence that defines this award. Their dedication, collaborative spirit, and unwavering focus on delivering outstanding care make them exceptional representatives of our organisation. The Acute Oncology Team truly embody the values and purpose of the Outstanding Care Award and are highly deserving of this recognition. 

The Upper GI One Stop Clinic

Northern Care Alliance

The Upper GI One-Stop Cancer Clinic was introduced in 2025 to mitigate delays in complex decision-making and improve the quality and safety of care for patients with oesophageal and gastric cancer who face high risk treatment decisions. Delivered across Greater Manchester for patients meeting defined referral criteria, including complex comorbidity or borderline fitness for radical treatment, the clinic addresses an unmet need where decisions were previously made through fragmented, sequential assessments.

The One-Stop model brings complete staging, comprehensive medical review, CPET-based risk stratification, frailty and nutritional assessment into a single coordinated week of care. This culminates in MDT review and same-day, face-to-face consultation with multispecialty clinicians, ensuring treatment recommendations are discussed directly with the patient. In its first six months, median Decision-to-Treatment reduced from 72 to 53 days (p<0.001), 62-day compliance improved from 13.9% to 32.4%, and patient satisfaction averaged 9.8/10. 

Wonderfully Made Woman

Wonderfully Made Woman Charitable Organisation

Wonderfully Made Woman is a Greater Manchester-based charity transforming the lives of women and girls who have experienced significant adversity by providing holistic support, confidence-building and community connection. Founded in Manchester in 2011 by Ehinor Otaigbe-Amedu MBE, the organisation offers a safe, inclusive space where women can access practical help, emotional support, skills workshops, mentoring, and advocacy to overcome challenges and thrive.

Through weekly hubs across Manchester, Bolton and Middleton, tailored services include befriending for single mothers, wellbeing programmes, cultural heritage activities, domestic abuse awareness, and language support for diverse communities. It also runs confidence-boosting initiatives, support networks and social events that foster resilience, dignity and self-worth. Recognised with The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service and a Pride of Britain award under Ehinor’s leadership, Wonderfully Made Woman champions equity, inclusion and systemic change, empowering women to build support networks, realise their potential and make meaningful contributions to their communities.

Massimo Maranzano

Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Teaching Trust / Manchester Foundation Trust

Mr Maranzano is an exceptional Maxillo-facial Consultant whose leadership, clinical expertise, and unwavering commitment to patient‑centred care have transformed outcomes for individuals facing complex head and neck cancers. With a reputation for combining surgical excellence with compassionate practice, he consistently delivers world‑class care across the entire cancer pathway from early diagnosis and multidisciplinary planning to advanced reconstruction and long‑term survivorship support. The relationships built between himself, the patients and patient's family is special to see, as each and every one adore and trust him greatly.

A driving force within the multidisciplinary team, Mr Maranzano champions collaborative decision making, ensuring every patient receives a personalised treatment plan grounded in the latest evidence and delivered with dignity.  Beyond clinical practice, he is a mentor and educator who invests deeply in developing trainees and strengthening the future of Max-Fax oncology. Patients and colleagues alike describe him as approachable, dedicated, and relentlessly focused on delivering the highest standard of care. 

Commitment to Equality Award

A journey through colonoscopy

NHS Bowel Cancer Screening / Northern Care Alliance

In Greater Manchester we are the worst performing centres for people who take part in the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening and receive an abnormal result and therefore require further diagnostics, which is a colonoscopy. To reassure patients of what takes place a video was made at the endoscopy unit, Fairfield Hospital. This was made thanks to the Digital Team at NCA and the Bury CLDT.

A lady with a learning disability was used to also highlight the reasonable adjustments that can be made, not just for anyone with LD but any additional support needs. This provides all the information required for both screening and symptomatic colonoscopies and is being used Trust wide. It has also been promoted across all GM partners and social media. It is to be translated to different languages and BSL. It will also be replicated across other hospital sites. 

Healthier Salford Community Champions Network

Salford City Council, Salford CVS, NHS GM Salford Locality, Various Community Organisations

The Healthier Salford Community Champions Network (HSCCN) is a two year pilot designed to build a community driven, system‑enabled leadership network. It brings together trusted representatives from local voluntary, community, faith, and social enterprise (VCFSE) organisations who work closely with ethnically diverse communities experiencing some of the poorest health outcomes. Throughout 2025, Salford Public Health, Salford CVS, NHS Greater Manchester Salford Place, and the GM Cancer Alliance played a central role alongside Community Leaders to establish and enable the HSCCN. The network aims to break down cultural and operational barriers, strengthen meaningful involvement, and encourage earlier help and encourage proactive health seeking behaviours. It supports trusted relationships, shared learning, and joint action to help create a fairer, healthier Salford. HSCCN's purpose is to convene community leaders and work alongside system leaders to co‑produce solutions to collaboratively agreed health priorities. Cancer was identified as one of the first areas of focus. 

Championing equality in lung cancer care through inclusive real-world evidence – The RAPID-RT study

The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, The University of Manchester, Vocal, NICE

Patients receiving routine NHS cancer care are under-represented in clinical trials, contributing to health inequalities. The RAPID-RT team addresses inequalities by delivering an inclusive rapid-learning study that includes all patients receiving curative-intent lung radiotherapy at The Christie. The study was co-designed with patients and supporters, using a fully informed opt-out consent process providing patients with a choice whether to include their data or not, ensuring that participation is accessible to everyone, including older patients, those with comorbidities, and ethnically and socioeconomically diverse groups. Over 1,400 patients have contributed data in 32 months, with only two opting-out, demonstrating strong acceptability. Using this inclusive dataset, RAPID-RT showed that modifying radiotherapy to reduce radiation to part of the heart was associated with improved survival. By embedding inclusion into both research design and delivery, the project generated evidence that reflects the real-world population and supports equitable improvements in lung cancer outcomes across Greater Manchester.

Greater Manchester Collaboration

This Van Can – Mobile Community Outreach

The Greater Manchester Cancer Alliance

Using eye catching mobile units, Greater Manchester Cancer Alliance, in collaboration with EMS Healthcare, have taken to the streets of Greater Manchester to deliver a combination of awareness raising messaging and targeted early cancer diagnostics. Across the four "This Van Can" roadshows over the last 18 months, with one still live, 185 events have been delivered. Onboard our awareness vans, the two specially trained ambassadors, armed with a variety of bespoke and VCSE literature, props and backed by a targeted social media campaign, interacted with a combined 30,758 people. Complimenting this, the capsule sponge heartburn van delivered 372 diagnostic tests, identifying 87 high risk individuals and identifying Barrett's Oesophagus in 31 patients so far.  In combination, these projects have delivered powerful results, encouraging timely presentation and earlier diagnosis through awareness raising, education, and innovative solutions to targeted case finding, delivered in the heart of the communities 

Respond to the treatable moment, the window, building motivation for people who have mistrust and trauma

Chapman Barker Unit ( GMMH NHS Trust) and Supportive Oncology Team (The Christie)

The Chapman Barker Unit (CBU) RADAR pathway and The Christie Supportive Oncology Team have formed a pioneering partnership that is transforming care for people affected by cancer across Greater Manchester. Together, they support patients who face the dual challenges of cancer and addiction, ensuring no one is excluded from treatment because of complex needs. Through joint assessments, shared ability and coordinated care planning, the teams provide safe, prompt access to oncology treatment and detoxification of alcohol to patients through the RADAR pathway. This collaboration has led to improved treatment continuity, reduced emergency admissions and significantly enhanced patient experience. By addressing health inequalities and delivering truly person‑centred care, the partnership is enabling of the region's most vulnerable individuals to engage with and complete life‑saving cancer treatment. Their work shows the power of cross‑organisational collaboration to drive better outcomes and set new standards of integrated care. 

Breast Cancer Screening as the Catalyst: Transforming Cancer Awareness and Early diagnosis of cancer in Brinnington 

Stockport Council

This community driven partnership achieved significant improvements in breast screening uptake in Brinnington—one of Stockport's most deprived neighbourhoods—while embedding wider cancer awareness, early detection, and prevention throughout the community. Although breast screening was the initial catalyst, the programme focused on building confidence, knowledge, and early diagnosis behaviours across all cancer types. Grounded in public health intelligence, MECC principles and co design, the partnership brought together breast screening services, GP practices, Public Health, and community organisations to provide trusted, culturally sensitive support. Screening uptake increased from 58% in 2019 to 70% in 2025, meeting the national target, and 10 breast cancers were diagnosed in this round, enabling timely treatment. Beyond screening, the team delivered multilingual conversations, drop ins and creative tools that encouraged discussions about symptoms, lifestyle risks and early detection. Training local champions established a sustainable network that continues to spread prevention messages and build long term awareness and confidence across the community. 

Research Award

NIHR Global Health Research Group for Improving Oesophageal Cancer Survival in Kenya: The Hub and Spoke Model

The Manchester Cancer Research Centre, The University of Manchester, The Christie Hospital, Manchester University Foundation Trust, NCA/Salford Royal, National Institute for Health Research, Kenyatta University Teaching, Referral & Research Hospital, Mount Kenya University, National Cancer Institute, Kenya Medical Research Institute, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture & Technology

An international partnership between the University of Manchester, The Christie NHS and Kenyatta University Teaching, Referral and Research Hospital is transforming early detection of oesophageal cancer in Kenya. Through a co created hub and spoke model, the team has combined community engagement, rapid pathology, and new genomic capacity to address a cancer that is often diagnosed too late, improving the chances of timely treatment. Working across five counties, the team co designed community awareness campaigns, trained more than 400 clinicians, 500 community health workers, and introduced a mobile endoscopy service providing over 1,000 procedures.  This partnership has revealed vital insights that will benefit patients in Kenya and those of African and Black ancestry in Manchester and across the UK. The programme is now informing national policy discussions and shaping future early detection strategies. This model of shared leadership, community partnership and reciprocal training offers a blueprint for equitable cancer detection across global and local systems. 

 Improving Personalised Care and Support Study

Northern Care Alliance NHS Trust

Aim:   To develop a deeper understanding of how personalised care and support planning, specifically through the Holistic Needs Assessment (HNA) functions in real-world settings for people living with colorectal cancer, and for the clinicians who support them.  The Macmillan electronic Holistic Needs Assessment (eHNA) provides a digital platform to support personalised care and support planning. However, the quality, content, delivery, and timing of HNAs vary considerably across clinical practice. The study also sought to co‑design improvements to enhance the effectiveness and consistency of HNA use. Rationale:   The study focused on HNA at diagnosis because this is already a key local performance measure for some services. The study focused on colorectal cancer because this cohort of patients have immediate needs (i.e., body image, disruption in life) and require ongoing treatment (up to 15 years of treatment options). 

The Greater Manchester Breast Cancer Risk Prediction Team 

University of Manchester, The Christie NHS Trust, NIHR Manchester Biomedical Research Centre, Vocal, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, Greater Manchester Inclusive Research Network, Cancer Care Diaspora, Woman Arise, NASFAT mosque, World Harvest church, Healthy Me Healthy Communities, Greater Manchester Inclusive Research Network

The Greater Manchester Breast Cancer Risk Prediction Team was established in 2019 to research the development of a comprehensive breast cancer risk prediction programme for young women. Bringing together researchers in oncology, epidemiology, psychology, radiology and AI with public contributors, community organisations and an industry partner we have conducted two large-scale studies that have demonstrated the effectiveness and acceptability of breast cancer risk assessments. Through co-designing our research with women and community organisations, we have increased inclusion of women from ethnically diverse backgrounds and from more deprived areas. Our research has already identified 140 women at increased breast cancer risk who would not have been identified through standard care, allowing them to benefit from earlier screening and preventive measures. This is hugely important as breast cancer remains the most common cause of death in young women (not just cancer deaths) and only risk prediction, screening and prevention will change that. 

Educational Impact Award

Mammography Associate Apprenticeship 

National Breast Imaging Academy, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust

We wish to highlight the educational impact of the introduction of the mammography associate (MA) apprenticeship, an initiative led by Lyndsay Kinnear, lead radiographer for the National Breast Imaging Academy (NBIA). Establishing this standard required extensive collaborative working across both GM and England, and the resulting increase in the breast screening workforce has had a massive national impact on breast services.  In 2019 the NBIA recognised the need to develop a formal, standardised cost-effective training programme for MAs (non-radiographers performing mammography). Lyndsay Kinnear established and chaired the MA Trailblazer group, to develop an apprenticeship standard which has now been successfully rolled out across England. As a result, MA staffing has increased by c.40% nationally since 2016, and by 70% in the Manchester Breast Screening Programme (MBSP) since 2019. An independent economic evaluation estimates savings to the NHS of c.£18m over a 10-year period from 2020

The ALK Education Project (‘ALKnowledge’)

The Christie NHS Foundation Trust and The Christie Institute for Cancer Education

ALKnowledge (www.alknowledge.org) is a free, interactive education platform designed to give patients and healthcare professionals clear, accessible information about ALK positive (ALK+) lung cancer.  ALK+ lung cancer represents around 5% of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cases (Chevallier, M. et al., 2021), but patients are often younger than average lung cancer patients and frequently never/light smokers. As a result, awareness among patients, communities, and clinicians is low, contributing to delays in diagnosis and many patients first being identified at an advanced stage.  Developed by The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, The Christie Institute for Cancer Education and colleagues from across Greater Manchester, and co-created through the lived experiences of patients from the ALK Positive UK patient advocacy group, ALKnowledge is the first interactive educational resource dedicated to this type of lung cancer.   Providing tailored information for patients and healthcare professionals, the platform enhances understanding, supports earlier recognition, and empowers informed decision-making. 

Digital Clinical Placements- The Manchester Model

The Christie Institute for Cancer Education. Christie Hospital. Manchester

One in two people in England are affected by cancer, yet workforce education remains insufficient to meet patient and community needs. The Christie Hospital has developed a high quality, scalable solution: Digital Clinical Placements (DCP) – The Manchester Model. Over five years, DCP has connected cancer experts with 5,000 learners, delivering more than 10,000 placement weeks and reducing inequalities in cancer education. Grounded in trauma informed coaching, the model acknowledges learners' personal experiences of cancer and how these shape the care they provide. It supports nurses and allied health professionals across Adult, Learning Disability, Mental Health, and Children and Young People specialities. Co produced with patients, professionals and wider stakeholders, design emphasis inclusivity and health inequalities. Clinical cancer experts offer continuous reflective and wellbeing guidance. The DCP in oncology includes the full cancer care continuum and strengthens workforce capability by shaping attitudes and behaviours to help reduce the cancer burden across Greater Manchester. 

Innovation Award

LungAware – Digital Patient Activation

The Greater Manchester Cancer Alliance

Greater Manchester (GM) Cancer Alliance, in collaboration with MSD, created LungAware, our digital symptom validation and patient activation tool in the style of an online chatbot (www.lungaware.co.uk). LungAware, which was designed in collaboration with patients and available in seven different languages, seeks to improve early diagnosis of symptomatic lung cancer through increasing awareness of signs and symptoms whilst removing barriers to access for communities across GM. Following a successful advertising campaign which reached an estimated 5 million people, LungAware has exceeded 29,500 users. Highlighted in GMs Early Diagnosis Strategy, the LungAware model is now being considered for adaption and use in other tumour pathways experiencing similar challenges. 

VR Distraction Therapy in the Paediatric Proton Beam Therapy Service at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust

The Christie NHS Foundation Trust

The Christie proton beam therapy centre is the first in the UK to use virtual reality (VR) distraction therapy in radiotherapy practice. A pilot project ran by the paediatric multidisciplinary team between March 2024 and March 2026 aimed to identify whether VR would help to reduce anxiety in radiotherapy practice. Children and teenagers aged between 6 and 16 years of age undergoing radiotherapy treatment are invited to participate in the VR distraction therapy. The headset is worn during their clinical procedures and treatment (if not using an immobilisation mask) to alleviate stress and anxiety. We have seen a significant reduction (Over 50%) in anxiety during procedures and believe the VR has enhanced the support we can offer to patients. We have secured funding to continue using VR in our service due to the positive difference it has made to the children and young people in our service. 

AI Radiology PriORiTisation (AIRPORT) project

The Greater Manchester Cancer Alliance

The Greater Manchester Cancer Alliance integrated AI into chest X-ray workflows to accelerate lung cancer diagnosis across all NHS Trusts in the region. The AI Radiology PriORiTisation (AIRPORT) project, funded by NHS England's AI Diagnostic Fund, deployed AI to triage all adult CXRs by urgency. A novel reporting framework using CX codes classified radiological risk and guided follow-up. AIRPORT is the first known real-world CXR AI implementation to evaluate both clinical and cost-effectiveness in line with NICE guidance. This innovation supports more rapid diagnosis, smarter CT referrals, improved cancer detection, and greater efficiency across the imaging system and has been successfully implemented across seven GM trusts. 

Maria Lawal

Maria Lawal is a patient advocate who has been sharing her story to raise cancer awareness and helping shape cancer services and cancer research for over 15 years. Since being diagnosed with osteosarcoma as a teenager, Maria has been using her voice for positive change and has been involved in huge range of projects. She has worked particularly hard to champion inclusion and address inequalities for Black African and Black Caribbean communities, as well as teenagers and young adults. Through bringing her experiences and perspectives, Maria has helped shape more inclusive cancer research, including helping the participation of young Black women in breast cancer risk research move from 1% to more than 30% in Greater Manchester. 

Duncan Edmonstone

Duncan Edmonstone is a dedicated and highly respected cancer volunteer within the Greater Manchester Cancer Alliance. Friendly, knowledgeable and consistently proactive, Duncan brings both lived experience and patient-expert insight to his work. His curiosity about cancer, treatments and their wider impact enables him to contribute meaningfully to service development, education and patient information resources. Duncan speaks not only as a patient, but as a constructive partner in improvement. He combines empathy with evidence, ensuring discussions remain solution-focused and collaborative. Whether contributing to early diagnosis initiatives, developing patient-facing materials or speaking at system-wide education events, he represents the patient voice with professionalism and integrity. His approach supports positive change across Greater Manchester by strengthening co-production, improving understanding and ensuring that innovation in cancer care remains grounded in real patient need. 

Wardeh Al nasir 

Wardeh Al Nasir is the Founder and Director of Community Thriving Together CIC, a Manchester-based social enterprise empowering women, families, and underrepresented communities through inclusive, culturally sensitive, and trauma-informed approaches. Arriving in Manchester with limited English, no local networks, and lived experience of isolation, displacement, and navigating unfamiliar systems, Wardeh transformed these challenges into purposeful community action. She established Community Thriving Together to remove barriers linked to language, culture, confidence, and access—particularly for migrant, refugee, and minoritised women who are often excluded from mainstream services. Under her leadership, the organisation delivers women-only wellbeing and physical activity programmes, outdoor family activities, digital inclusion, volunteering pathways, and community leadership development. Her work strengthens confidence, reduces isolation, and creates sustainable routes into skills development, volunteering, and civic participation. Wardeh is widely recognised across Greater Manchester for her collaborative, lived-experience-led leadership and her commitment to building equitable, connected, and thriving communities.