Cancer Services support worker

EAST LANCASHIRE HOSPITALS NHS TRUST; Lancashire; On-site; GBP 20,000 - 25,000; Full time

Job summary

A healthcare provider in Lancashire seeks a Cancer Support Worker to provide administrative and direct support within cancer services. You will be responsible for liaising with patients, organizing care coordination, and using IT systems to monitor patient progress. Applicants should have strong IT skills and relevant qualifications such as A Levels and GCSEs. The role emphasizes empathy, effective communication, and adaptability within a multi-disciplinary team for efficient cancer care delivery.

Qualifications

• Experience of working both within a team and independently (desirable).
• Experience and understanding of National Cancer Waiting Times Standards (desirable).
• Able to adapt to the changing needs of the service while displaying trust values.

Responsibilities

• Support the team with administrative duties including developing information packs.
• Use IT systems to aid the remote monitoring of patients.
• Liaise with and support patients via telephone or face to face.

Skills

IT Skills – competent in using Microsoft Office including Word and Excel

Effective communication and negotiation skills

Self-motivated

Ability to use own initiative

Positive, can-do attitude

Education

A Level at Grade C or above

GCSE English & Maths at level 4 or above

Business or Leadership Qualification

Job description

You will also support the team and provide administrative duties as required, for example, developing information packs for patients, inputting annotations onto Somerset Cancer Register, developing patient leaflets, etc. In tumour sites where Patient Stratified Follow-up (PSFU) has been (or will be) implemented you will support the pathway implementation and become the key contact for patients on these pathways. This will involve organising and administering meetings with key stakeholders. The post-holder will use IT systems to aid the remote monitoring of these patients including the co‑ordination and tracking of patients and the remote monitoring of surveillance tests. Inputting data, generating and presenting reports will form part of this role, along with co‑ordinating and tracking patients and generating appropriate documentation e.g. patient letters. In addition, the post-holder will liaise with and support patients via telephone (or face to face), to support them and signpost to other sources of support, including providing advice on self‑care management. This may also include co‑ordinating future investigations and appointments for patients. The role sits within the Cancer Services directorate which is part of the Surgical and Anaesthetic Division. The post-holder will be required to travel between hospital sites in order to meet the needs of the role. This role requires a good understanding of cancer patient pathways. The Cancer Support worker will also need the appropriate skills to recognise when patients require immediate or rapid referrals to appropriate members of the Multi‑Disciplinary team, and feel confident to deal with challenging situations and hold difficult and sensitive conversations with patients and families. The post-holder will also undertake an important role in the management and co‑ordination of care, by supporting patients to navigate the patient‑facing portal (where appropriate) when this has been implemented in the Trust and signpost to other sources of support., The purpose of this role is primarily to ensure that the East Lancashire NHS Trust meets the National Cancer Strategy recommendation to ensure that people living with and beyond cancer are fully supported and their needs are met. A key element of the role is to provide practical support to Multi‑Disciplinary clinical teams. In particular, you will work closely with the clinical nurse specialist team to support the delivery of the service they provide to their patients diagnosed with cancer. This will include the triage of incoming calls, from patients, relatives, carers, and other health and social care professionals. You must, therefore, communicate information with a high degree of empathy, understanding, diplomacy, honesty and integrity.

Key Responsibilities

• Support the team with administrative duties, including developing information packs and patient leaflets, and inputting annotations onto Somerset Cancer Register.
• In tumour sites where PSFU has been implemented support pathway implementation and act as the key contact for patients on these pathways, organising and administering meetings with key stakeholders.
• Use IT systems to aid the remote monitoring of patients, co‑ordinate and track patients, and generate appropriate documentation such as patient letters.
• Liaise with and support patients via telephone (or face to face), advise on self‑care management and signpost to other sources of support.
• Co‑coordinate future investigations and appointments for patients and manage travel between hospital sites.
• Recognise when patients require immediate or rapid referrals to appropriate members of the Multi‑Disciplinary Team and hold difficult and sensitive conversations with patients and families.
• Manage and co‑ordinate care by supporting patients to navigate the patient‑facing portal and signpost to other sources of support.
• Provide practical support to Multi‑Disciplinary clinical teams, triage incoming calls from patients, relatives, carers and other health and social care professionals, and provide basic telephone advice and refer or sign‑post to other sources of support as required.
• Co‑ordinate and organise assessments, appointments and investigations, and recognise and respond appropriately to sudden deterioration or emergency situations, alerting the clinical team or enabling rapid response as appropriate.
• Contribute to holistic needs assessment and develop personalised care and support plans reflecting experience and qualification.
• In appropriate tumour sites support implementation of Personalised Stratified Follow‑up Pathways (PSFU), working closely with clinical colleagues and be a key member of the Project Team and Task and Finish Groups, including agenda setting and minute taking.
• Act as key contact for patients on PSFU pathways and be a key contributor in the virtual clinic (where appropriate), held alongside the clinical nurse specialist to evaluate next steps for patients on PSFU and provide appropriate support to patients following the clinic.
• Work alongside clinical teams to develop agreed patient‑initiated pathways and supporting documentation.
• Co‑ordinate and track patient pathways, including the remote monitoring of surveillance tests using various IT systems.
• Develop patient information leaflets and workbooks to support PSFU.
• Plan and organise health and wellbeing events or similar supported self‑management events.
• Administer duties as deemed appropriate by the clinical team, e.g. inputting information to Somerset Cancer Register, developing patient information packs, etc.
• Document and monitor all aspects of care coordination and service delivery, supporting data collection for audit.
• Organise and prioritise the designated workload, evaluate outcomes of care delivery with the registered practitioner and coordinate appointments and assessments as required.
• Coordinate handover with other teams to facilitate safe and effective transition of care between services and act as advocate and facilitator to resolve barriers to care.
• Coach patients and carers on individual self‑care management principles, signs and symptoms, and situations to be aware of, and provide consistent planned after‑care to reinforce this information.
• Deliver patient‑centred, self‑management support and education for non‑complex patients, including how to self‑assess.
• Develop an understanding and awareness of relevant community support and services, encourage and support active and healthy lifestyle choices.
• Coordinate remote surveillance and monitoring through appointments for investigations and feedback of results for non‑complex cases.
• Coordinate face‑to‑face appointments for those with complex results from remote surveillance and monitoring investigations.
• Support and contribute to audit processes, governance, research, clinical research trials and service development.
• Order supplies and equipment as required to support service delivery and manage petty cash funds in relation to Health & Wellbeing Information sessions.
• Provide cover for other Cancer Support Workers where necessary.

Qualifications

• A Level at Grade C or above (or equivalent qualification or relevant experience)
• GCSE English & Maths at level 4 or above or equivalent
• Business or Leadership Qualification (desirable)
• Experience of working both within a Team and independently (desirable)
• Experience and understanding of National Cancer Waiting Times Standards (referral to treatment) target (desirable)
• Ability to use own initiative and prioritise and organise own workload
• IT Skills – competent in using Microsoft Office including Word and Excel (desirable)
• Demonstrate effective communication and negotiation skills
• Able to adapt to the changing needs of the service, always displays trust values & professionalism
• Self‑motivated
• Positive, can‑do attitude, able to work flexibly across sites as requested (though allocated main base)

Equal Opportunity

The Trust is an equal opportunities employer, committed to improving the working lives of our staff and operates a 'Zero Tolerance' policy to aggression, violence, bullying and harassment. In addition, our aim is to help protect children and vulnerable adults by providing a first‑class service to the recruitment of people into positions of trust.

Application Information

• Please note that the salary advertised is for full time hours. If this post is less than 37.5 hours per week, the salary will be pro‑rata. For posts on Agenda for Change pay‑scales, new entrants to the NHS will normally commence on the first pay point of the relevant band.
• This vacancy may close before the closing date if the recruiting manager deems sufficient applications have been received. Therefore it is advised to complete your application as early as possible to avoid disappointment.
• Please ensure you check the email account from which you apply regularly as we will use this to contact you regarding your application.
• Please note that shortlisting is completed anonymously with candidates being assessed against the essential criteria for the post. Therefore only applicants, who can clearly demonstrate how they meet our person specification criteria in their application, will be short‑listed.
• Disclosure and Barring Scheme (DBS) – If the role you are applying for is identified as either controlled or regulated activity as defined in the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act (2006) any offer of employment is provisional upon a satisfactory DBS check being obtained. The healthcare sector is exempted from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. In line with other NHS organisations in the North West Region, the Trust is now passing the charge for undertaking a DBS check on to candidates in the event they are successfully appointed into the post for which they have applied. Candidates can choose whether to pay this over 1‑3 months as a deduction from the monthly salary. However, if you are applying for a post as a BANK worker, the payment must be made in full at the time of employment checks. By applying for this vacancy you are agreeing to this undertaking in the event you are successfully appointed. The cost of an Enhanced Disclosure will be £55.38 and for a Standard Disclosure will be £27.38.