Cancer patient says The Christie at Macclesfield made the most frightening year of her life manageable

When Buxton resident Jo Williams phoned the BBC recently, she wanted to thank the team who had carried her through the most frightening year of her life.

Her short call, praising the care she received at The Christie at Macclesfield, led to an invitation for Jo to share her experience directly with The Christie’s Board of Directors at the end of November.

Jo, a development manager for arts and heritage charities, began 2025 like any other year. The mother of three, who is married to Ian, spends her spare time reading, walking, and listening to jazz. But in early March, everything changed.

She recalls:

“I noticed a lump and went to my GP. When I found out it was breast cancer, I was terrified. It felt unreal, like I was in a daze.”

Further tests confirmed that Jo had HER2-positive breast cancer, and she was referred to The Christie in April. She was offered a treatment plan with 12 sessions of chemotherapy over 18 weeks, an operation, and radiotherapy sessions during December, finishing on Christmas Eve. This will be followed up with Herceptin injections in 2026.

Today, Jo is relieved to have no current signs of cancer, though she is still managing the lingering side effects of chemotherapy.

She says, with a wry smile:

“I’m not exactly looking forward to radiotherapy, but I know I’m in safe hands.”

Jo speaks with genuine warmth about her experience at The Christie:

“The medical care is efficient and caring. And the non-medical care is just as important. Everyone is always welcoming and smiling, even when they’re clearly busy. Whether it’s consultants, nurses at all levels, receptionists or the brilliant Macmillan volunteers with their kindness and cups of tea, they make a difficult situation manageable.”

She remembers how petrified she felt before her first chemotherapy session:

“Sarah, one of the senior nurses, was amazing. She made a challenging situation manageable. Over the next 18 weeks, I saw many of the same friendly nurses - Eva, Matthew, Rachel, Emma and others - and that continuity of care meant the world.”

Jo describes The Christie at Macclesfield as “a lovely, welcoming building from the minute you step into the reception area.” The chemotherapy suite, she says, “is light and airy, with natural light and views of the trees. Everything is spotless and still feels new, even though the centre opened three years ago.”

Before Macclesfield opened, Jo would have faced a two-to-three-hour round trip to The Christie's site in Withington, navigating Manchester's busy roads.

She added:

“Macclesfield is under an hour for me, with hardly any traffic. When you’re dealing with cancer, the trips to and from treatment can be stressful, and having a cancer treatment centre close to home made everything easier.”

She particularly valued having the breast clinic, general hospital services, physiotherapy and scans all on the same site, making her months of treatment “far more manageable”.

As Jo prepares for her final phases of treatment, she feels more hopeful than she expected to:

“I want to spend time and have fun with family and friends who have got me through this year. They know who they are. And I want more time in Galicia, it’s my happy place.”

“Cancer still feels surreal in some ways, yet painfully real in others. Navigating it would not have been possible without the amazing staff at The Christie, my family and close friends. Cancer has taught me to appreciate them even more.”

A pioneering Christie model helping patients like Jo:

Jo is one of around 250 patients each year treated through a new regional systemic anti-cancer therapy (SACT) model pioneered by The Christie. Led by consultant Dr Caroline Wilson, the approach is designed to maintain expert consultant-led care while addressing a national workforce shortage.

Traditionally, each breast cancer consultant would treat patients from a single multidisciplinary team (MDT) linked to one hospital. Under the new model, a single consultant leads treatment for patients with a specific subtype, in this case HER2-positive early breast cancer from four surgical breast units in acute hospitals, at Leighton, Macclesfield, Manchester Foundation Trust and Bolton. The service aims to expand to every breast MDT in Greater Manchester and Cheshire during 2026.

To support this regional coverage, the consultant is supported by a strengthened multidisciplinary team. In Dr Wilson's case, this means two pharmacists, an advanced nurse practitioner, a GP, an associate specialist in oncology, and a dedicated secretary for the service. Day-to-day treatment reviews take place closer to home, delivered by highly trained systemic anti-cancer therapy (SACT) nursing teams at local chemotherapy units, and all imaging and monitoring are coordinated through collaboration with local breast cancer surgical teams. Any emergency side effects are managed through the Christie acute oncology hotline.

Dr Wilson said:

“The aim is to preserve the gold-standard expertise of oncology consultant-led care while keeping treatment as close to patients’ homes as possible. Our SACT nurses, pharmacists and allied health professionals have stepped into expanded roles with outstanding skill and compassion.”

Comprehensive protocols, standardised treatment letters and detailed treatment guidelines ensure consistent, safe care across the region. Audit data shows that treatment outcomes and patient flow are comparable to those in traditional models, confirming that high-quality care can be delivered more efficiently by a consultant in this way. Moreover, patient feedback from people like Jo has been overwhelmingly positive.

One patient recently wrote:

"My family and I are facing a very scary time. Dr Wilson was kind, compassionate, empathetic and confident. Her whole team have been very responsive to any questions I've sent, and they have really made a huge difference to my wellbeing in the last few weeks. I have been reassured, respected, and considered."

Pictured - Buxton resident Jo Williams.