Membership

Welcome to the latest edition of Headlines

At The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, we remain committed to providing the best possible cancer care and treatment for our patients in Greater Manchester, Cheshire, and beyond.

This year, the NHS has continued to face significant challenges nationally, regionally and locally. We are very fortunate here at The Christie that our strong operational and financial performance is enabling us to weather this storm and focus on our mission to ensure that every patient receives care that combines expertise and compassion. It is at the heart of everything we do.

We remain a key part of the wider Greater Manchester healthcare system which means we must continue to closely manage our budget and drive forward standards to ensure we can provide the highest levels of care for all our patients – and the world-leading research that is expected of us.

We are always reminded by patients and visitors that there is something special about The Christie. It holds a very dear place in the hearts of many. And we know that the biggest factor in this is our outstanding staff.

We have a team of expert, caring and dedicated people, and every single person does their utmost to put our patients at the heart of all we do, no matter what their role. The many thank you cards and comments we receive on a daily basis are a joy to read and make us rightly proud of everything our team does. Our continued excellent performance in patient feedback reinforces this.

Thank you for being a member of The Christie and to everyone who has shared their comments or attended a membership event such as a focus group, a PLACE assessment or attended the Annual Members Meeting. We hope you enjoy reading about the Trust’s highlights and achievements over the last 12 months.

Apart from Headlines magazine, all our communications to our members are sent by email. If you haven’t heard from us in a while, it’s likely we don’t have an email address for you. To update your record, please send your name, postcode and email address to: the-christie.members@nhs.net

If you have friends or family who would like to become members, please ask them to visit our website and complete the membership form.

If you would like to update your membership details including the information you would like to receive from us,  you can do this on our website.

We would particularly welcome an update about your age and ethnicity so that we can better understand which groups our members represent.

How to contact us and your governor

You are a key part of The Christie and, through the Council of Governors, influence how The Christie is run. Your governors are here to represent you at the highest level. If you have any suggestions, views or concerns and would like to contact your governor, please get in touch with the membership office: The Christie Membership Office, 550 Wilmslow Road, Manchester, M20 4BX

Email: the-christie.members@nhs.net

You can follow The Christie on:

• X (formerly Twitter): @TheChristieNHS, or our Charity @TheChristie

• Facebook: @TheChristieNHS or our Charity @TheChristiecharity

• LinkedIn: @thechristienhs or our Charity @christiecharity

The Christie selected for Advanced Foundation Trust status

The 10 Year Health Plan, published last July, set out the vision of reinvigorating and reinventing the foundation trust model for the modern integrated health system. This is being delivered through the Advanced Foundation Trust programme, with the ambition that all NHS providers will achieve Advanced Foundation Trust status by 2035.

We are pleased to announce that The Christie will be one of the second wave of applicants to be assessed for Advanced Foundation Trust status. Inclusion in this early wave recognises that we have demonstrated consistent high performance by being placed in segment 1 of the NHS Oversight Framework for each quarter of 2025/26.

Securing Advanced Foundation Trust status will require successful assessment as part of the Advanced Foundation Trust programme and we will be working closely with NHS England as part of that process to demonstrate how we meet the assessment criteria.

Successfully passing the assessment will undoubtedly provide some exciting financial and regulatory freedoms for the way we can invest more in local health services, tailoring our work based on the needs of our local communities.

Becoming an Advanced Foundation Trust may mean that our Council of Governors may no longer exist. The 10 Year Health Plan suggests that these may be replaced by a different arrangement that draws on patient, staff and stakeholder insight. This change is expected on 1 April 2027 but is not guaranteed and depends on legislation and we will keep you updated on any changes and plans on this.

We are committed to ensuring people will still be able to engage with us and input into how we deliver our care and services regardless of any impeding changes. Some of the ways you can engage with us are listed below with these and any new opportunities shared on our website and other channels:

• Online focus groups

• Patient engagement group

• Condition specific support groups

• Spotlight events focusing on research and post-treatment events

• Cultural awareness events and open days

• Christie neighbourhood forum

For more information on the Advanced Foundation Trust programme, please visit the NHS England website.

How can I get involved more as a member?

Aside from sharing any feedback with us about The Christie, the Trust runs several membership events every year that are only available to our members. Information about these events are sent via the email address we hold for you; which is why it is so important that we have an email address for you. Please get in touch if you think we don’t have your email address or if you have changed email addresses in the last 5 years.

Email the-christie.members@nhs.net to find out more or to check we have the correct email address for you.

These membership events include:

The Annual Members’ Meeting

This is an online streamed event which gives members an annual update on The Trust’s achievements and highlights. is followed by a question-and-answer session with our Chief Executive and Chair.

Focus groups

These are usually held on the last Thursday of each month via Zoom, and you can access Zoom via a computer, tablet or smartphone. Each one is on a different topic, and members give their opinion and feedback on a range of topics helping us to improve our services. They are informal with an introduction from a Christie staff member followed by questions and comments from our members.

We usually have about 10 members on a focus group, so they are booked on a first come first served basis.

Patient-led assessments of the care environment (PLACE) assessments

Our PLACE assessments take place every year to help us to make positive changes by gathering feedback on how we can improve the environment where we deliver our services to patients.  They are a national requirement for Trusts.

Each year we assess a couple of our sites.

Members who are participating must be able to attend a training event as well as the assessment.

We usually have 15 members on each assessment, so they are booked on a first come first served basis.

Surveys

Throughout the year, we may send surveys to members to complete and give their feedback to help improve our service to our patients, carers and families. Your feedback is really important to us so that we make changes that you want to see.

Keeping in touch

Our membership database has around 9,000 public members who have joined over a number of years. As with most organisations today, we use email as the main way of letting our members know about news, information and events from around the Trust.

We currently have email addresses for less than half of our members and we want to increase this number to make sure we can send you the information you have requested and communicate with as many of our dedicated members as possible.  If you think we haven’t got your email address or you have changed it in the last couple of years, please let us know by emailing us at the-christie.members@nhs.net

There are 3 levels of communications to choose from:

• General information (sent to all our members) – this includes Headlines magazine, your invitation to the Annual Members’ Meeting and other Trust-wide events such as open days. We will also contact you to vote for your governor when elections take place.

• Events and meetings – we will let you know about any departmental events or meetings that might be of interest to you.

• Focus groups and online surveys – this is a great way to have your say on how we shape and improve our services at The Christie. Focus groups take place monthly online on different subjects and we will email you with information about these as they are arranged.

To make sure we have your correct details and that we are sending you the information you would like, you can complete the form on our website: christie.nhs.uk/join and we will update your details.

If you no longer wish to be a member and would like us to remove you from our records, please let us know by emailing us at the-christie.members@nhs.net or by phone 0161 446 8616.

Keeping up with news from the Trust

Another great way of keeping up-to-date with news from around the Trust is to read our latest news on our website. Here you can read about the latest Trust developments, patient stories and news from around The Christie. Take a look on our news page.

Volunteering at The Christie

Could you be a volunteer?

Our volunteers work in non-clinical roles across a range of departments and make a huge difference to our patients’ experience by giving their time.

Volunteers can work up to 10 hours a week but must first successfully complete our mandatory training, as well as DBS and ID checks.

We want our teams to reflect the diversity of the patients and communities we serve and welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and identities.

To find out what volunteering roles we have available and to apply for specific roles, please visit our volunteering pages.

Real life patient stories

• Rama's story

• David's story

• Rosemary's story

Read more of our patient and staff stories in our We are The Christie magazine online or pick up a copy around the hospital.

News from The Trust

• The Princess of Wales visits The Christie

• Exciting development works

• Our upcoming restaurant refresh

• Transforming cancer care through Future Christie

Invitation to The Christie NHS Foundation Trust Annual Members’ Meeting 2026

Please join us for our Annual Members’ Meeting on Thursday 10 September 2026 at 3pm. The meeting will last about an hour and will include Trust achievements in 2025/26, highlights of the year followed by a question and answer session with our Chief Executive, Roger Spencer and Chair, Professor Joe Rafferty.

There will be the opportunity to meet some of our governors, directors and other members of The Christie team prior to the meeting from 2.30pm. Please visit our Visiting The Christie page for details of how to get to The Christie.

"There are many ways in which you, as a member, can support The Christie such as voting for your local governor or taking part in surveys. Some of you are active supporters of The Christie Charity as well as members and we really appreciate the time and the hard work you give.

"I hope you will join us on Thursday 10 September. If you intend to come to the Annual Members’ Meeting it would help us if you could let us know by calling 0161 446 8616 (answer phone) or by email to the-christie.members@nhs.net."

  - Professor Joe Rafferty, Chair

Notice is given that the Annual Members’ Meeting of The Christie NHS Foundation Trust will be held at 3pm on Thursday 10 September 2026.

The business will be as follows:

• to receive the annual report and accounts 2025/26

• to receive the report of the auditor

• to receive a report on membership issues

• to receive the results of the election and appointment of governors, by order of the Council of Governors, The Christie NHS Foundation Trust