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The Greatest Gift

The greatest gift isn’t under the tree this Christmas – it’s life-saving expertise right where women need it most.

This Christmas, help train the next ovarian cancer surgeon.

Together, we can train even more surgeons, reach more hospitals, and ensure every woman, wherever she lives, has the same chance of surviving ovarian cancer.

This Christmas, the most meaningful gift for women with ovarian cancer isn’t under wrapped under the tree, it’s in the hands of an incredible surgeon who will use it to save lives.

Across the UK, too many women are still being denied the care they need simply because of where they live.

Every woman with ovarian cancer deserves the best chance of survival. Yet too often, we see how unfair it can be.

Gilly was diagnosed following a visit to A&E. After three months of chemotherapy, she had a consultation with her surgeon.

“My surgeon told me he could perform the operation but that he couldn’t go to everywhere the cancer had spread, he could only go as high as my kidneys.”

Ovarian cancer surgery is very complex. To get the surgery she needed, Gilly’s only option was to travel over 85 miles to Hammersmith Hospital to be treated by Professor Christina Fotopolou.

At Hammersmith Hospital, Christina and her team have one of the best survival rates for ovarian cancer in the world. But for too many women, the chance of having surgery depends on where they live.

It’s a postcode lottery – and for many, it can mean life or death.

“I wasn’t told that there were other surgeons out there who could do the surgery I needed. Your postcode or the expertise of local surgeons should not decide your chance of survival.”

No woman should ever have to travel this far for treatment that could save her life. But this is currently the hard reality for many women who have been told their options have run out.

That’s why we created the Surgical Expertise Programme.

It’s a simple solution that can transform the future: training and upskilling new surgical experts with Professor Christina Fotopolou in world-class hospitals, like Hammersmith. Those surgeons take that expertise back to their home hospitals – embedding excellence, saving lives, and closing the gap in care.

While Ovarian Cancer Action continues to fund long-term breakthroughs that could stop this disease before it starts, like the ovarian cancer vaccine, women need life-saving care today. The Surgical Expertise programme makes that possible.

Donate today

Meet the people behind the program

Already, we're seeing what’s possible. Dr Katie Baxter, our very first trained surgeon under the programme, has already returned to her own hospital in Manchester. Our second surgeon Alistair has just started on the progam too.

“Christina is my hero. I am so incredibly grateful to her."

Gilly's life could have been cut short, but thanks to the right surgery and personalised medicine, she’s still here.

10 years after her diagnosis, she can spend another Christmas with her husband Rob, her children and her grandchildren.

Every new trained surgeon means more women, like Gilly, hearing “yes” to surgery. The NHS agrees that this complex surgery is vital for women with ovarian cancer.

The skills exist. The knowledge exists. We just need to make them available to every woman, in every hospital.

The Surgical Expertise programme makes that possible.

Read Gilly's story
One trained surgeon. Hundreds of lives changed.

Your gift this Christmas could help fund training for the next specialist and ensure that more hospitals have the skills and knowledge to give women the best chance of survival.

Donate now