James takes on leading Christie role
WITH less than six months to go until the opening of the Christie at Macclesfield cancer centre the man who will run its radiotherapy service has been appointed.
James McGovern, 34, currently works at the hospital’s Withington site but he has also held positions at the local radiotherapy centres in both Oldham and Salford.
He was inspired to become a radiographer by his mother, Elaine, who was a diagnostic radiographer, and he studied at Sheffield Hallam University, graduating in 2008.
James’s role at Macclesfield will be to manage the day-to-day service in radiotherapy, including the radiotherapy treatments and CT scans of patients.
He will be the most senior member of staff working at the new centre when it opens at Macclesfield Hospital in late 2021.
Part of his job will be to co-ordinate patient care with staff from other clinical disciplines including the chemotherapy unit.
“I am very excited to be taking up this new role, particularly as it will be the first radiotherapy centre in Cheshire,” he said.
“My experience as a therapeutic radiographer will help me to develop the new service at Macclesfield to its fullest potential.
“Going through radiotherapy is sometimes the hardest thing a patient may ever face, so being able to support people during this is very rewarding.”
Radiotherapy treatments that will be available at the site include stereotactic ablative radiotherapy, which delivers very high dose radiotherapy to a small tumour site, and surface guided radiotherapy which uses laser technology.
Adrian Flynn, head of radiotherapy at the Christie, said: “James is a very strong appointment and I know he will work tirelessly to get the new radiotherapy service up and running on time.
“His experience at our other local radiotherapy centres in Oldham and Salford will be invaluable.”