Velindre Cancer Service team wins national HSJ Patient Safety Award

2 October 2026

A pioneering Velindre-led service that is transforming the safety of immunotherapy treatment has been named Patient Safety Team of the Year at the Health Service Journal (HSJ) Patient Safety Awards 2026.

The South East Wales Immunotherapy Toxicity Service received the award in recognition of its innovative approach to supporting patients receiving immunotherapy treatment, helping ensure treatment-related side effects are identified and managed earlier and that patients can access specialist support quickly and safely.

The award-winning submission, Preventing the Unpredictable: A Wales-Based Service Transforming Immunotherapy Safety with National Reach and Global Impact, was recognised at a ceremony held at the Telford International Centre.

Professor Ricky Frazer, Clinical Lead for the South East Wales Immunotherapy Toxicity Service, said: “This award belongs to the whole team and reflects an extraordinary collaboration across professions, specialities and health boards, all focused on one aim: giving every patient the best possible opportunity to benefit safely from immunotherapy.

“Cancer treatment is evolving rapidly. As we develop increasingly sophisticated ways of harnessing the immune system, the toxicities we manage are becoming more complex too. We now need to ensure the specialist workforce and capacity grow alongside those advances.

“Ultimately, our patients deserve not only access to the best possible cancer treatments, but the specialist support that allows them to receive those treatments as safely as possible,” he added.

Carys Morgan, Medical Director of Velindre Cancer Service, said: "This award is a wonderful recognition of the dedication, innovation and teamwork that sit at the heart of our service. The team has created something genuinely transformative for patients receiving immunotherapy, and we are incredibly proud to see their work recognised on a national stage.

“Their achievement reflects Velindre's commitment to delivering safe, high-quality and innovative cancer care for patients across Wales.”

From an idea to implementation

Immunotherapy has transformed outcomes for many people living with cancer by harnessing the body’s own immune system to recognise and attack cancer.

That success also presents new challenges for cancer services. Immunotherapy can cause immune-related side effects that are very different from those traditionally associated with chemotherapy. They can affect almost any organ or body system and, in some patients, can become complex or serious without prompt recognition and treatment.

Before the service was introduced, patients did not always have a clear route to the specialist support they needed.  The service began as an idea to improve care for patients experiencing immunotherapy-related toxicities and has since grown into a highly successful regional model supporting patients across Wales.

Through multidisciplinary working, dedicated specialist staff, innovative care pathways and collaboration across health boards, the service combines direct patient care with education, regional pathways and development of clinical expertise.

The model includes specialist medical oncology input, clinical nurse specialists, multidisciplinary team working, nurse-led admission avoidance clinics and telephone support, enabling earlier recognition and management of complications.

Making an impact for patient safety

The impact of the service has been significant. The service has now supported more than 1,000 patients receiving immunotherapy treatment. Evaluation of the model has estimated that approximately 65% of immunotherapy toxicity-related emergency bed days have been avoided.

In addition, the service has delivered an estimated £615,000 in cost savings through reducing emergency admissions and hospital stays, helping patients access specialist support more quickly and enabling many to continue their treatment safely.

The service has also increased healthcare professionals' confidence in managing immunotherapy side effects, with 92% reporting improved confidence following implementation of the model.

As immunotherapy and other advanced immune-based cancer treatments continue to develop, ensuring specialist services grow sustainably alongside them will be essential to maintaining safe and equitable access to these treatments.

The service’s ambition remains simple: advances in cancer treatment should be matched by advances in the care required to deliver those treatments safely, giving every patient the best possible opportunity to benefit.

National recognition

The HSJ Patient Safety Awards are among the most prestigious patient safety awards in UK healthcare and recognise outstanding work that improves the safety and quality of care delivered to patients. The awards received 427 entries this year, with 217 organisations shortlisted across 25 categories. A panel of 135 judges assessed submissions recognising excellence in clinical practice, organisational improvement and service innovation.

Opening the event, HSJ editor Alastair McLellan praised those shortlisted for achieving improvements despite the pressures facing the NHS. He said work to prevent patient harm was not always welcomed amid unprecedented demand and the drive to recover performance, adding that the finalists’ achievements showed “what is possible in even the most unpromising situations.”

The latest award also builds on previous national recognition for the South East Wales Immunotherapy Toxicity Service, including recognition at the Royal College of Physicians Excellence in Patient Care Awards 2026.

About Velindre Cancer Service

Velindre Cancer Service provides specialist cancer care to more than 1.5 million people across South East Wales and beyond. As part of Velindre University NHS Trust, services are delivered through a hub-and-spoke model, with Velindre Cancer Centre serving as a specialist treatment, teaching and research centre for non-surgical oncology.

A wide range of treatments, including chemotherapy, systemic anti-cancer treatments (SACT), radiotherapy and specialist palliative care, are delivered by the service. This latest award reflects our continued commitment to delivering high-quality, innovative care and improving outcomes for people affected by cancer across Wales.