Key Relationships Clinical Nurse Specialists (CNSs) Multi-Disciplinary Teams (MDT), Administrative Teams Cancer Performance Radiotherapy Chemotherapy Oncology Surgical and Palliative Care Primary Care teams Patients and their carers Macmillan Cancer Support, including Macmillan Information and Support Services National Cancer Information Service Voluntary sector groups Duties and Responsibilities Provide a point of contact for patients throughout their treatment Responsible for contacting and organising appointments and information and results Coordinate face to face appointments as per MDT instructions Support and contribute to audit processes, governance, research, clinical research trials and service development Report any protocol variance to MDT and CNS Responsible for validation and updating of database(s) Support the planning/inviting/organising of informative events for patients Document and monitor all aspects of care coordination and service delivery, supporting data collection for audit Demonstrate the ability to recognise and respond appropriately when faced with a sudden deterioration or an emergency situation, alerting the team or enabling rapid response as appropriate Under the guidance and supervision of a registered practitioner: Coordinate the follow up investigations required post cancer diagnosis or treatment Support the delivery of Cancer Waiting Times (CWT) through effective pathway monitoring Coordinate a rapid re-entry into the specialist cancer team review as per tumour group protocol Develop and maintain a good professional relationship with patients and with the specialist cancer teams Communicate appropriate needs related information Facilitate access to health and well-being services, and other support services Provide basic telephone advice and refer on or sign-post to other sources of support Facilitate access to third sector support, e.g. Macmillan Information Services, HOPE programme Be a single point of contact for patients, their carers and GPs/Primary Care for patients whilst they remain cancer patients at the Trust Support patients and carers to access up-to-date and appropriate information, including sign posting to a range of support services Support the direction of the patient or carer to education or support areas. Encourage and support active and healthy lifestyle choices Support patients and carers to understand what signs, symptoms or situations to be aware of that would indicate concern Inform patients and carers on how to make contact when they feel that their condition or needs have changed, including what to do out of hours Support the delivery of patient and carer training and education. Planning/inviting/organising of Health and Well-Being events or other supported self-management events. To attend allocated Health & Well Being events, keeping comprehensive electronic records of attendance. Encourage and support active and healthy lifestyle choices Coach patients and carers on how to make contact when they feel that their condition or needs have changed, including what to do out of hours This is a patient facing role and is centred on communicating with people affected by cancer, therefore successful candidates must have excellent communication skills, be compassionate and understanding at a time of great emotional need for our patients. To have a full understanding of Personalised Care and what was knows as the 'Recovery Package' including Holistic Needs Assessments and personalised care and support plans, Treatment Summaries, Health and Wellbeing information and support and Personalised Stratified Follow up Contribute to the holistic needs assessment. To make sure that identified patients will complete the questionnaire and document these accordingly. Organise and prioritise the designated workload in relation to identified needs Evaluate outcomes of care delivery with the registered practitioner Coordinate and organise appointments and assessments as required Identify indicators of need or changes in need through telephone contact and respond appropriately Act as advocate and facilitator to resolve issues that may be perceived as barriers to care Support people to access appropriate information and support, by sign-posting to a range of support services and take an approach which helps people to self-manage where appropriate. Provide administrative support to enable CNSs to have specialist time to be focused on patients. Support may include making referrals to other agencies or audits such as patient experience surveys etc. Carry out administrative duties required by the role such as organising meetings, taking minutes, producing documentation and organizing supplies Offer suggestions for improvement of service Ensure that all daily tasks and on-going workloads are prioritized and completed within agreed timeframes. Demonstrate insight into own professional development, contributing to the process of identifying own educational and training needs in conjunction with line manager. Attend and actively participate in team / group meetings as required. Support and contribute to audit processes, governance, research, clinical research trials and service development