The Christie NHS Foundation Trust

In a unique collaboration between the NHS and the independent sector, 60% of PET-CT services across England are being aligned into a single governance framework as part of an initiative to achieve clinical excellence through standardised service delivery.

The collaborative partnership between The Christie NHS Foundation Trust (the largest cancer centre in Europe) and Alliance Medical brings together other NHS hospitals, patient representatives, academic centres, charities and commissioners to deliver PET-CT services under the new National Contract.  

These groups have joined together as the Molecular Imaging Collaborative Network (MICN) and at its heart is a Governance Committee, set up to determine and ensure standardised clinical practices across all sites, to follow the Intercollegiate College evidence-based indications for PET-CT.

The Governance Committee is chaired by leading independent clinicians and represented by clinicians from the 31 NHS Trusts involved in the PET-CT network, institutions, The Christie, patient representatives and Alliance Medical. The involvement of local Governance Boards ensures that patient needs are fully reflected across England.

The Alliance Medical Molecular Governance Committee (AMMIGC) is setting the direction of service development and also determines education and training research needs, working with the Clinical Research Group (CRG) to evaluate and collect an evidence base for PET-CT.  Examples of research projects include dose reduction programmes, radiotherapy planning using PET-CT and monitoring treatment response.  As well as guiding clinical decisions, the information collected will support decision-making by commissioners.