First Minister Humza Yousaf travelled to London yesterday (Monday, 29 January) to take part in a number of events in partnership with the City of London Corporation, including agreeing an enhanced framework to promote Scotland and London as centres of excellence for financial services.
The latest evolution of the partnership will ensure the benefits of a thriving financial services industry are shared across the UK. It is rooted in the ethos that financial sectors in Scotland and London have much to gain from cooperating and coordinating.
The framework complements ongoing activity to double assets under management in Scotland’s financial services sector to £1 trillion by 2030, thus supporting more jobs, as outlined in Scottish Financial Enterprise’s Growth Strategy.
It will ensure benefits are maximised for Scotland as the Corporation pushes for the UK to be a global centre for nature finance, and targets other shared priority areas including green and sustainable finance, financial inclusion and social mobility.
Long-standing annual engagements will continue – including the annual Burns Supper, hosted on rotation between Scotland and the City of London Corporation since 2020 – ensuring regular promotion of Scotland’s financial sector to UK-wide and international investors in London.
It is part of broader work between the Scottish Government, Scottish Development International, global investors and partnerships – including that with the City of London Corporation. It allows the Scottish Government and City of London Corporation to work together to support the aims of businesses in their respective financial sectors.
First Minister Humza Yousaf said: “Scotland has much to gain from strengthening our relationship with the City of London – by providing access to global investors and collaborating on shared initiatives, we can reap the benefits of a thriving financial services industry for our centres of excellence.
“Outside of London, Scotland both has the UK’s largest financial services centre and is the most attractive location in the UK for foreign direct investment. By working with the City of London Corporation towards shared goals, we can continue to drive that investment, and grow our economy.
“This latest partnership agreement is enhanced in terms of the scope and focus of our ambition, and will ensure our priorities continue to align with those of businesses in the financial sector.”
City of London Corporation Policy Chairman Chris Hayward said: “The twin financial and professional services sectors of London and Scotland represent a critical part of the UK economy.
“We’ve been delighted to partner with the Scottish Government on a range of issues where we have alignment and shared challenges: in sustainable finance, technology, talent and growth.
“Today’s meetings and Burns Supper represent an opportunity to really explore these areas; to identify areas of complementarity; and determine how we can work together for the benefit of our shared sectors, economies and people.”
Nine NHS hospital brain tumour centres across the UK have been recognised as a Tessa Jowell Centre of Excellence following the first round of rigorous expert-led assessments by the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission – and one of them is NHS Lothian’s Edinburgh Neuro-Oncology Centre.
The Edinburgh Centre for Neuro-oncology is based in two locations: the new Royal Hospital for Children and Young People and DCN (Department of Clinical Neurosciences) in Little France as well as at the Edinburgh Cancer Centre at the Western General Hospital.
With more than 12,000 people diagnosed every year with a primary brain tumour in the UK1, the award has been introduced to recognise hospitals for their excellence in patient care. It represents a step change in the neuro-oncology landscape across the UK.
Centres were measured on a range of criteria including excellent clinical practice and training opportunities; emphasis on patient quality of life; providing clinical trialsand offering a high standard of research opportunities.
Led by a committee of experts in the field and virtual site visits, the assessments were backed up by patient feedback collected by The Brain Tumour Charity about the care they received in these centres.
At least 88,000 British people are currently living with a brain tumour and over 5,000 people a year will lose their lives to it2. The “Excellence” status provides reassurance about the availability of excellent care within the NHS and positive recognition for its staff who, despite the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic, continue to go above and beyond for their patients.
As a result, centres are increasingly adapting to the challenges of Covid-19 and are now offering virtual clinics for their patients.
Founded to design a new national strategy for brain tumours, the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission is committed to helping as many hospitals as possible achieve “Excellence” status in the future.
To achieve this, themission is launching the Tessa Jowell Academy, a national platform allowinghospitals to share best-practice to improve their services, as well as one-year fellowships for doctors to further specialise in brain tumours.
It is hoped that with the support of the Academy more centres will qualify for excellence status in the future, extending the reassurance of excellent NHS care more broadly and ensuring no patient is left behind.
JessMills,Co-FounderoftheTessaJowellBrainCancerMissionandTessa’sdaughter,said:“Mum’s mission throughout 50 years of her political life was to tackle systemic inequality.
“So, it was tragic whilst fitting, that her final campaign was a call to arms to create universal equality in access to excellence in cancer care throughout the NHS. It is with immeasurable pride that just 3 years later, the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission has begun the real-world translation of that vision into reality.
“We are thrilled to have awarded nine centres for their excellent ongoing work for patients and commitment to support other centres in reaching the same level of Excellence.
“Shockingly, the UK still has one of the worst cancer survival rates in Europe, but in time, the Tessa Jowell Centres will make the UK a global leader in the treatment and care of brain tumour patients. We have a long way to go until the cutting edge of science is delivered to every patient, but this is a huge and transformational first step.”
TessaJowellCentresofExcellence:
1. University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust
2. Edinburgh Centre for Neuro-oncology
3. King’s Health Partners / King’s College Hospital & Guy’s and St Thomas’s Hospitals
4. Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
5. Salford Royal Foundation Trust and The Christie
6. Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
7. Nottingham University Hospitals
8. St George’s University Hospital, Royal Marsden Hospital and Royal Surrey County Hospital
9. University College Hospital London NHS Foundation Trust
Over £700M is spent on cancer research in the UK every year, yet less than 2% of that is dedicated to brain tumours. The Mission, which will be supported by the All-Parliamentary Group on Brain Tumours chaired by Derek Thomas MP, is calling upon further support for NHS centres to enable more of them to achieve “Excellence” status in the future.
To kick-start additional monetary support, the Tessa Jowell Foundation, the charity set-up by Tessa’s family to lead the delivery of her legacy, has announced a fundraising appeal to raise £4M to enable the centres to excel after the network is launched.
ProfessorRichardGilbertson,ChairoftheMission,highlights:“When we put out a call to apply, we received an overwhelming and enthusiastic response from the community.
“There was a real sense of pride from NHS staff about the service they have been providing and how they strive to provide the very best care for patients, even in the midst of a pandemic.
“All applying hospitals were working to provide best care and we will be supporting those not yet ready for Centre of Excellence status to enact best practice across all areas. We will use the evidence collected from the applications forms to make a strong case to further equip these centres.”
Dr Tracey Gillies, Medical Director, NHS Lothian, said: “NHS Lothian is delighted our neuro-oncology centre has been awarded Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission Centre designation.
“The service will join a new network of UK centres of excellence in neuro-oncology that provide the highest levels of patient-centred care for people with glioma, bringing innovation, research and clinical trials to advance treatment and quality of life for our patients.
“Sharing expertise and models of care within the Tessa Jowell Academy will allow patients across the UK to benefit from the complementary strengths of the different centres.”
