Fourteen UK hospitals have been newly designated as Tessa Jowell Centres of Excellence for their outstanding brain tumour care and research.
This recognition is part of the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission (TJBCM) initiative, which aims to ensure that all UK patients with a brain tumour can access the best standard of treatment, care, and research.
These centres have met rigorous, expert-led criteria to ensure the highest standards of patient treatment, innovation, and research. First launched in 2020, centres awarded Centre of Excellence in 2025 have met even higher standards, with new parts of the UK awarded.
The award gives patients the confidence that they are able to access world-class treatment, cutting-edge clinical trials, and compassionate, patient-centred care. It will also encourage other hospitals to work towards higher standards of care.
The 14 centres are:
- Barts Health NHS Trust
- East Midlands Neuro-Oncology Service
- East of England Neuro-Oncology Network
- King’s Health Partners
- Leeds Teaching Hospitals
- Liverpool and North Wales Neuro-Oncology Network
- Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals
- Oxford and the Thames Valley Neuro-Oncology Network
- Plymouth and the Peninsula Neuro-Oncology Network
- Salford Royal Hospital and The Christie
- Sheffield Teaching Hospitals
- St George’s, The Royal Marsden and Royal Surrey Hospitals
- The South Wales Neuro-Oncology Network
- West Midlands Neuro-Oncology Network
The centres newly awarded in 2025 have demonstrated progress in areas such as holistic care, advancements in genomics, and access to clinical trials. Experts also highlighted many new innovations within services.
In addition, centres met new and higher standards in areas such as neurological symptom management and psychological support, informed by key patient priorities and work of charity campaigners. These improvements demonstrate the outstanding commitment of NHS teams to driving innovation and elevating care, in a landscape of stretched resources, backed up by rigorous standards, national data collection and best-practice sharing.
Lord Darzi, who led the review of the NHS in England in 2024, said: “The award of 14 new centres of excellence is a fitting tribute to Dame Tessa Jowell and her dedication to improving treatment and care for patients with a brain tumour. This programme shows the NHS at its very best, highlighting teams across the country that are working tirelessly to improve their services and deliver excellent care.”
The Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission is a convening body, founded by the UK Government and key brain tumour organisations in 2018, as a response to a call to action by Dame Tessa Jowell (pictured top left with daughter and campaigner Jess) for better outcomes for brain tumour patients. It has more than 13 member organisations, including Brain Tumour Research, and delivers transformative national programmes supporting NHS neuro-oncology services.
Our Director of Research, Policy, and Innovation, Dr Karen Noble, said, “A brain tumour diagnosis is a distressing event for patients and families, but to know there are these badged centres of excellence will bring some comfort. We congratulate both the work of those creating this legacy for Dame Tessa and the recipient hospitals. At Brain Tumour Research, we are delighted to recognise this progress in brain tumour care whilst maintaining our own focus on the need to fund progress towards a brain tumour cure.
"Congratulations also to Barts Health NHS Trust, The Royal Marsden and the Plymouth and the Peninsula Neuro-Oncology Network, all of which have close links with our Brain Tumour Research Centres of Excellence and support our efforts to find a cure for all types of brain tumours.”
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