The Christie Charity
Gemma Butterworth has worked at The Christie for nearly 20 years. She’s spent most of her time here working in research and was one of the first nurses in our National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Manchester Clinical Research Facility (CRF) at The Christie, delivering brand new cancer treatments to our patients.
When Gemma joined back in 2011, it was just her and another staff nurse giving treatments. That number is now more than 20. The Manchester CRF at The Christie is only one part of the research infrastructure here at The Christie. Our teams are working on around 650 clinical trials at any one time.
Gemma recently completed her MSc in Advanced Clinical Practice and is currently the only advanced clinical practitioner (ACP) working in the Manchester CRF at The Christie.
ACPs are experienced healthcare professionals who have developed the skills and knowledge to take on expanded roles and scope of practice caring for patients. They come from a range of clinical backgrounds, including nursing, physiotherapy, and radiography. Complex clinical management, strategic planning, education, research and audit are key components of the role.
Gemma decided to become an ACP because she wanted to develop her clinical and managerial skills, while still having day-to-day contact with patients.
“I love being an ACP because it means that I still get to do the thing I love most – looking after people with cancer – but I also to get to do other things that I wouldn’t get the opportunity to as a nurse, such as writing clinical guidelines and operational procedures. I’m also a sub-investigator on all our clinical trials within the cell therapy research team, which means I have the same trial responsibilities as the medics. This includes things like obtaining informed consent, taking people’s medical history, and developing clinical management plans. There's so much variety in my role, which is why I love it.”
Professor Fiona Thistlethwaite, medical director at the Manchester CRF at The Christie, has supported Gemma through her studies and beyond. She says: “It’s coming up to one year since Gemma qualified as an ACP after completing a very demanding master’s degree. Since then, she has become an integral member of both our CRF and Advanced Immunotherapy and Cell Therapy Teams.
“Gemma brings a depth of knowledge and experience in managing patients who are receiving cutting-edge trial treatments and delivers these through the four ACP pillars of clinical practice, leadership and management, education and research. It has been fantastic to watch her gain confidence in managing complex issues over the last year such as cytokine release syndrome. I was so proud that she was named ‘learner of the year’ at our staff awards this year and am excited to see her continue to develop her skills in the coming years.”
Gemma is one of over 90 ACPs at The Christie. They work in radiology, physiotherapy and nursing.
Find out more about research at The Christie on the Research and innovation section of our website.
