Teenage and Young Adult (TYA)

The unit offers outpatient, day case and inpatient care and is specially focused on the needs of young people with cancer. The day case and outpatient area has four treatment chairs for chemotherapy, immunotherapy and other supportive treatments such as central line care, blood products and tests.

We also have three inpatient rooms if you need to stay in hospital overnight. The inpatient rooms all have en-suite facilities and convertible bed-chairs that allow loved ones to stay overnight in the room if needed. The rooms are modern and spacious.

The TYA Unit has its own dedicated social area which is exclusively for young people to mix with those of your own age. You can watch TV, play on games consoles or enjoy the activities that our Youth Support Coordinator organises.

Many young people are referred to us each year for cancer treatment and support. The TYA Unit gives you the opportunity to get to know one another with communal social spaces, peer-to-peer support, and group events.

We want to make sure you feel well supported in dealing with the practical and emotional impact of cancer. The TYA team offers:

• Specialist psychological and social support from our team – the team includes specialist nurses, a clinical psychologist, a youth support coordinator and young people’s social workers
• An opportunity to be treated amongst peers – you will be able to meet and mix with other people aged 16 to 24 who are also living with cancer

Monthly peer support group

We also regular peer support groups away from the hospital unit for young people having cancer treatment or who have completed treatment. It is a chance to get together in a relaxed social setting. Activities range from escape rooms to mini-golf and are a vital part of the peer support process.

The peer support groups are organised by the Youth Support Coordinator and are open to any young person having cancer treatment across Cheshire and Merseyside, North Wales, Lancashire and South Cumbria and the Isle of Man. This includes those who may be receiving their treatment at other hospitals. 

The Youth Support Coordinator keeps in contact with young people (via text or email) to make sure you are invited to all social and peer support events up to two years after completing treatment.

The activities are funded through charitable donations. These are carefully spent and help to provide the best possible support to young cancer patients from across the region.

I’m Laura. I’ve worked at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre since qualifying as a nurse in 2003 and as the TYA Lead Nurse since 2013. The role of the lead nurse is to ensure that young people have access to the appropriate services for their age and need. 

My role is central to the coordination and strategic development of TYA care in the Cheshire and Merseyside region. I lead the team here at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre and it’s my responsibility to ensure our patients get the very best care, that we support them and their families and that we’re working towards continuously improving our service.

I’m Clare, I joined the TYA team in 2023 from the Clinical Interventions team here at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre. My role is to ensure all young people have access to a key worker who understands their needs as a young person and can support them throughout their time here at Clatterbridge. 

This may be with communication, coordination of care or liaising with many clinical teams. I enjoy spending time with young people and the challenge of working with the many different types of caners that we get in the young adult age group.

I’m Kathryn. I joined the team in 2023 as part of a pilot project with Cheshire and Merseyside Cancer Alliance. My role includes working here at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre and across several other hospitals. I aim to improve young people’s experience of getting to a cancer diagnosis as quickly as possible. 

I support young people and their families undergoing this journey, which can be a particularly difficult time as young people’s cancer journeys are often complex and may be unexpected. I am a registered children’s nurse – however, I am particularly interested in the later stages of teenage development and supporting young people transition into independent adult life and empowering them to understand their own health care needs.  

I’m Franki and I’m the Teenage Cancer Trust Youth Support Coordinator at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre. I am a qualified youth worker and have worked with young people in a variety of settings for over 16 years. I’ve worked at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre since 2015 and have supported many young patients over that time. 

I offer social and emotional support to young people with cancer, ensuring they don’t feel defined by their diagnosis. My support is tailored to each individual young person’s needs, personality and situation. The service I offer is so varied that I could be supporting a young person on the ward one day and then organising group activities or days out the next. 

We do loads of fun things from visiting the Royal Albert Hall for the Ultimate Backstage Experience, to virtual craft sessions. I enjoy seeing young people I work with develop and grow in confidence. It’s important that young people feel like themselves, even when they’re going through something that is so out of the ordinary.

I’m Kate and I have worked as the Clinical Psychologist for teenagers and young adults at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre since 2008. I offer specialist psychological assessment and individualised therapy plans to support any TYA patient or relative with the psychological challenges of having cancer, coping with treatment and recovery. I offer Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (BT) as well as coping strategies (relaxation, distraction, guided imagery and hypnotherapy techniques).

I am Therese and I have worked at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre since 2003 and as the TYA Multidisciplinary Team Coordinator since 2009. My role supports and facilitates the weekly TYA multidisciplinary team meeting, ensuring that patient referrals from clinical teams around the region are listed for specialist discussion in a timely manner. 

I work closely with multi-professional colleagues across Cheshire and Merseyside. If you would like more information about the TYA, please email Therese.otty@nhs.net.