Prof Richard Simcock

Main Specialty:

Oncology

Sub-specialty:

• Breast Cancer (Radiotherapy, Chemotherapy and Hormone Therapy)

Clinical Interests:

• Technical advances in radiotherapy
• Biological therapies in cancer treatment
• Survivorship and rehabilitation
• Acupuncture therapy
• Cancer in older people
• Cancer in pregnancy

Current Memberships:

• British Institute of Radiology
• European society of Radiation Oncology
• American Society of Clinical Oncology
• British Medical Association
• UK Breast Cancer Group
• International Society of Geriatric Oncology

Professional Profile:

Prof Richard Simcock has been a Consultant Clinical Oncologist at the Sussex Cancer Centre since 2004. Previously he had worked at the Sydney Cancer Centre in Australia, and before that had completed five years of post-graduate specialist training in Oncology in London and the South East including: Guy’s and St Thomas’, Charing Cross and Mount Vernon hospitals. He graduated from Guy’s and St Thomas’ hospital in 1993. His current NHS practice involves providing clinical care to patients diagnosed with breast cancer at: Eastbourne Hospitals, Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust, and also clinics at the Park Centre for Breast Care.

Working closely with the surgical and nursing team, Prof Simcock sees and treats patients diagnosed with early or advanced breast cancer; he advises on the role of radiation and chemotherapy, hormone, biological and experimental treatments as well as genomic profiling.

Prof Simcock prescribes and supervises courses of chemotherapy delivered by the team at the Montefiore, or by home healthcare teams. In addition, he prescribes, plans and supervises radiotherapy treatment at the Royal Sussex County Hospital, or delivered by Genesis Cancer Care in Havant, Guildford or West Malling.

He is involved in enrolling patients in trials of new therapies, as well as trials of improved radiation therapies.

A list of scientific research publications by Prof Simcock can be found at: researchgate.net/profile/Richard_Simcock-2

Prof Simcock works as a Consultant Medical Adviser for the charity Macmillan Cancer Support. He provides advice to “Mummy’s Star”, a charity providing support to women diagnosed with cancer during pregnancy and also has been a trustee of the important local cancer charity Cancervive which provides support to family and friends of those with cancer (www.cancervive.co.uk). He has also been a trustee of the Sussex Cancer Fund.

Prof Simcock is one of the editors of the textbook: The ABC of Cancer Care.

Along with colleagues in Europe, USA and Canada, he runs an online monthly journal club which regularly receives over one million impressions, and Tweets regularly @BreastDocUk.

Prof Simcock has been the chair of the UK Expert Reference Group for Cancer in the older person. He is part of the National Cancer Research Institute’s group for research for patients living with and beyond cancer and cancer survivorship.

Recent research interests have included: ways to adapt radiotherapy during the COVID crisis, and the paper that Prof Simcock wrote with colleagues at the early part of the COVID crisis had been cited over 100 times within six months. Other research interests include: Doctor-Patient communication and the ways in which technology can improve cancer care. Patients are provided with a recording of their consultation, or are encouraged to make their own recordings, when attending.

Personal Profile:

Prof Simcock has three children, two of whom are at university, one still at local school, where up until recently Prof Simcock was one of the school governors. His wife is a local GP. He does not own a car, and wherever possible tries to get from A to B on foot, by bicycle or by public transport!