A Tessa Jowell Centre of Excellence has met the high Standards of Excellence in every area of their service. The ‘Excellence’ status allows patients to feel confident that they are receiving the very best care in the NHS, recognising their staff are going above and beyond. There are currently six accredited Centres of Excellence demonstrating excellence in each of the 168 assessed areas, providing high-quality services across every single service. These centres demonstrate outstanding multi-disciplinary collaboration to deliver care, with exceptionally integrated and specialised services. They provide excellent research opportunities across specialities and remarkable nurse-led care.
In 2023, six distinguished centres were awarded the coveted Centre of Excellence status:
- Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust
- Great Ormond Street Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (GOSH) and University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH) Joint Centre
- Greater Manchester Children’s Neuro-oncology Service: The Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital and The Christie NHS Foundation Trust
- Newcastle Hospitals and Newcastle University
- Nottingham Children’s Hospital at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust
- Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust
In 2025, four further centres were awarded the Centre of Excellence status after their teams delivered significant service developments that meant they now meet the Standards of Excellence:
- University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust
- Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- Royal Hospital for Children, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, and Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital, NHS Grampian
- The Royal Marsden Hospital, St George’s Hospital and King’s College Hospital with The Institute of Cancer Research, London, (as the South London Paediatric Neuro-Oncology Network)
A Tessa Jowell Network centre is recognised for safe and good quality treatments in adherence with the speciality protocols. It may not have fully met the Tessa Jowell standards in a small number of areas, but it is dedicated to ongoing service improvement. Tessa Jowell Network centres are signed up to the programme’s vision of striving to provide the highest quality and equitable care and are actively working to further push up their standards of care.
Survival outcomes remain the same across the UK with no evidence to warrant transitions between centres. Children and their parents can have confidence in the quality of care they are receiving in all Tessa Jowell Network and Excellence centres, and be reassured that every child receives comprehensive holistic care from a compassionate team, tailored to their needs.
Map displaying the Tessa Jowell Network of Centres, highlighting the Centres of Excellence (as of December 2025)
