The cutting edge of cancer care

Cleveland Clinic’s new Outpatient Centre in London, which opens this year in the Harley Street Medical Area, is the latest location in the world-leading American medical institution’s expanding global footprint. The facility will be followed in 2022 by Cleveland Clinic London Hospital, which will focus on providing cancer patients with a seamless care pathway.

Tommaso Falcone MD, who has been appointed chief of staff, chief academic officer and medical director at Cleveland Clinic London (CCL), has a particular interest in gynaecological surgery, including the preservation of fertility in cancer patients. This, he says, will be an important part of CCL.

“Cleveland Clinic London will be offering management of all cancers. The clinic is designed to be a high acuity surgical hospital and is focused on investigation, diagnosis and surgical management,” Dr Falcone explains. “The unique feature of CLL is the development of a team approach to cancer management, which crucially is not restricted to CCL itself. For this reason, we have partnered with The London Clinic for the medical management of cancer patients.

“Our values are focused on treating the patient and not just the cancer. Our close partnership with The London Clinic will allow cancer patients to receive the best care from two of London’s finest healthcare organisations. We will have a fully integrated service with The London Clinic with a multidisciplinary team approach to give patients the best options in the management of their cancer.”

Tommaso Falcone MD of Cleveland Clinic London

Joining forces
CCL announced its partnership with independent charitable hospital and cancer care specialist The London Clinic in September last year. The two hospitals are joining forces to provide comprehensive oncology services to patients at their respective facilities in central London. Surgical oncology will be a core service offered by CCL, says Dr Falcone:

“The London Clinic and its team of expert oncologists—supported by pathway administrators—will provide oncology services including chemotherapy and radiotherapy, while Cleveland Clinic London will offer diagnosis and surgical treatment. CCL is an acute surgical hospital designed to treat and look after the most complex surgical patients, with a 29-bed ITU. The state-of-the-art operating theatres have fully integrated, minimally invasive surgery rooms, including the latest Da Vinci robot. What is really important is that every patient will move seamlessly between the two hospitals.

“We plan a seamless pathway from the moment the patient is referred, through diagnosis, assessment, staging and treatment. This will be ensured by the teamwork of our physicians and surgeons linked to the team of oncologists at The London Clinic. The optimal patient care will be ensured by a coordinated approach with regular multi-disciplinary team discussions of each patient, and involving the patient, as they progress through their individually tailored, carefully planned pathways.

“Utilising the very latest patient record technology means we can ensure that patients can flow seamlessly through this—and combined with the latest technology in diagnostic equipment and operative techniques, this will help us to get the best possible outcomes for our patients with minimal disruption to their daily lives.”

Continuity of care
Cancer patients utilise a wide range of services at various points during their journey, so ensuring continuity of care is tantamount to ensuring quality of care. This is at the core of what CCL aims to achieve for patients, Dr Falcone continues:

“There have been many changes in the field of cancer care, especially in technology, but what is really novel is the way it has evolved into teams—with the patient at the centre of all decisions and highly involved at all stages. What’s important to note is that medical care is not the purview of one single organisation, and siloed medicine is not in the best interest of the patient.

“Further, cancer has become a chronic disease, because we [the cancer community] are very good at making sure that survivorship is excellent. The overarching principle is that cancer is no longer an acute event. Patients can live a long time. For this reason, patients are interested in other aspects of cancer care—such as preservation of fertility, for example. For this reason, we have expanded the view into how we can make sure that quality of life is a part of the technological advancement of cancer and thus be able to make a real difference to our patients’ lives.”

World Cancer Day takes place on Thursday 4th February. The theme this year is ‘I Am And I Will’—a celebration of the fact that together, we can all make a difference.

Cleveland Clinic London will open its first outpatient building at 24 Portland Place in September 2021 and its main hospital at 33 Grosvenor Place, Belgravia will open in early 2022. The hospital will have 184 inpatient beds, including 29 ITU beds; eight operating rooms; a full imaging suite; endoscopy and cardiac catheterisation laboratories; day case rooms for surgery; and a full neurological suite with rehabilitation. Beside comprehensive cardiovascular and thoracic services, it will offer orthopaedics, digestive diseases, urology, neurosciences, ear nose and throat, general surgery, general practice and executive health. 

The London Clinic is an independent charitable hospital, situated in Harley Street, the heart of London’s medical district. It has been at the forefront of healthcare for close to 90 years and provides services across seven buildings housing ten theatres, 234 beds, consulting rooms and a wide range of diagnostic services, including the latest 3T MRI scanner. The Duchess of Devonshire Wing, The London Clinic’s custom-built cancer centre, spans eight floors, offering access to state-of-the-art radiotherapy and chemotherapy suites, along with Europe’s largest private stem cell collection and storage facility.  As a charity, The London Clinic reinvests all profits to further our mission of advancing healthcare within our hospital and for the benefit of the healthcare community.