About us
We are a diverse rural and urban region in England with a population of 5.4 million covering 15,000 sq. km. Our network links 2 Principal Treatment Centres, 5 Paediatric Oncology Shared Care Units and 9 Designated Hospitals across Yorkshire, the Humber, North Lincolnshire, and North Derbyshire who together provide cancer care to young people aged 0-25.
Mission statement
Our purpose is to bring together key partners to co-ordinate services for children and young people with cancer and their families, ensuring they have choice of access to the right care, in the right place at the right time. This care should be tailored to their individual needs, making their cancer journey the best it can possibly be. We are committed to having the voices of children, young people, and their families at the heart of all we do.
Network aims
The Children’s, Teenage and Young Adult Cancer Clinical Network is designed to bring the key teams and personnel together that comprise the clinical and holistic components of the pathway of care for children and young people with cancer. The goal of the Networks is to enable service users to access the right care in the right place and at the right time, including clinical trials, while benefiting from co-ordinated holistic and psychosocial support.
Meet the team
The Children’s, Teenage, and Young Adult Cancer Clinical Network is a small and dedicated team which includes:
Cancer Clinical Network Chair
Ruth Brown
Ruth is Chief Executive of Sheffield Children's NHS Foundation Trust, which specialises in providing integrated care for children and young people with an increasing focus on health inequalities. She is also a trustee of Voluntary Action Sheffield and The Children’s Hospital Charity.
Ruth has spent her entire career in the NHS working in regional and local organisations in both provider and commissioning roles. As CEO for Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust she leads an organisation of more than 4000 colleagues who strive to provide a healthier future for children and young people through both physical and mental healthcare and community services.
Ruth is a compassionate leader who understands the importance of listening. She listens carefully to patients, their families, colleagues and partners in her mission to continuously improve patient and colleague experience. She has a wealth of knowledge in leading complex change at regional level
She believes deeply in the power of partnerships and collaboration and is currently the lead CEO for the South Yorkshire Acute Federation and South Yorkshire Children & Young People’s Alliance, as well as the Co-Chair of the National Children’s Hospital Alliance.
Ruth is an alumni of the University of Sheffield and regularly leads Masterclass sessions in leadership as well as being a member of the Management School Advisory Board
Hospital map
Children’s
Teenage and Young Adult
FAQs
Operational Delivery Networks (ODNs) were established in 2012, following the publication of the NHS England Strategy ‘Developing Operational Delivery Networks: The Way Forward’. They cover specialised services which span geographical areas where patient pathways often flow across several service interdependencies and organisations. Cancer Clinical Networks focus on coordinating these pathways between providers to ensure consistent, equitable access to specialist resources and expertise.
The Children’s, Teenagers’, and Young Adults’ Cancer Clinical Networks were established in 2021 to work with patients, families, doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals to significantly improve patient outcomes and experience across England.