The Teenage and Young Adult outreach service for the North West

If you are 16 to 18 and are being treated for cancer, your treatment should be at a principal treatment centre (PTC) for teenagers and young adults. The PTC in the North West is The Christie NHS Foundation Trust.

PTCs are certain hospitals that are specialised experts in TYA cancer. This might not be the hospital closest to your home, but it will be the most experienced in giving your individual treatment.

If you are 19 to 24, you may be able to choose the hospital you go to. Depending on the type of cancer you have, you may be able to have treatment at a local hospital that links in with the PTC. These hospitals provide cancer care for young adults. This could be your local hospital.

Teenage and Young Adult outreach team

If you choose to have your treatment closer to home, you will be offered support from the Teenage and Young Adult outreach team in your area.

The Teenage and Young Adult outreach team is made up of a group of specially qualified and skilled clinical nurse specialists, youth workers and social workers who support and care for young people with cancer. They will work alongside your local medical and nursing team to help meet your age-specific needs and ensure you can access the same support as young people treated at the PTC.

The team offers 1 to 1 support for young people and their families through diagnosis and treatment. They work with your local medical team to help coordinate your care and address your individual needs as a young person, both in hospital and at home.

‘’Despite how rubbish and unexpected getting cancer aged 24 is, due to my age I was lucky to receive support through the outreach service.  If I was diagnosed just 4 months later, I wouldn’t have had the support.
“Support from the outreach team has meant that I have had a TYA clinical nurse specialist who attended all my appointments, came to see me before my surgeries when my family couldn’t be there due to COVID and will pick up the phone any time I am having a wobble or need questions answering.
“As well as having a specialist nurse, the team have enabled me to meet – albeit online – a group of people who are part of the club none of us asked to be part of. Despite my friends and family been as supportive as possible, the truth is no one really understands until they’ve been through it themselves.’’

  - Young person supported by the TYA outreach service

Which hospitals offer TYA outreach support?

Greater Manchester and North Cheshire

Lancashire and South Cumbria

Further support about your place of care choice

Your doctor or specialist nurse will be happy to discuss your choices with you. Wherever possible, you may be offered a visit to the TYA unit and to meet a member of the outreach team to help you make your decision about your place of care.

If you have been diagnosed with cancer and would like to discuss your choices about where you are cared for, you can contact the local TYA specialist nurse for further advice on choice and the support available.

TYA clinical outreach nurse specialist for Teenagers and Young Adults – Greater Manchester and North Cheshire

  • 07776 162791
  • 0161 446 3730

TYA clinical outreach nurse specialist for Teenagers and Young Adults – Lancashire and South Cumbria

  • 01772 528536
  • 07894 708565

Last updated: February 2024

© 2024 The Christie NHS Foundation Trust