Cancer Support Worker HODS | Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; Liverpool; On-site; GBP 24,000 - 30,000; Full time

Job summary

A prominent healthcare institution in Liverpool is looking for a Cancer Support Worker to ensure timely patient care in the Haemato-Oncology Diagnostic Service. The role involves coordinating investigations, liaising with clinical teams, and tracking patient pathways to meet cancer waiting time targets. Ideal candidates are highly organized with excellent communication skills and relevant healthcare experience.

Qualifications

• Self-driven and highly organized individual.
• Excellent communication skills.
• Experience in patient handling and care coordination.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate diagnostic investigations for cancer patients.
• Act as the main contact for escalated results.
• Monitor and track patient pathways closely.

Skills

Communication skills

Organisational skills

Teamwork

Data protection knowledge

Education

Relevant qualification or experience in healthcare

Job description

We are seeking a self‑driven highly organised individual with excellent communication skills to join our Haemato‑Oncology Diagnostic Service (HODS) on the Royal Liverpool Hospital site. HODS facilitates the diagnosis of leukaemia/lymphoma, both for the Trust and as part of the regional service covering Merseyside and Cheshire.

The role of the Cancer Support Worker is to help ensure clinical pathways are proactively followed, ensuring that cancer waiting times standards are achieved and that patients receive their treatment in a timely and efficient way. You will liaise with laboratory, clinical and administrative teams, both within the Trust and tertiary centres, to coordinate investigations, results and treatments. As a main point of contact for healthcare professionals, you will ensure the joining up of services, coordination, information and communication between all, creating a seamless experience of care.

The post holder will work closely with medical, scientific & clerical staff across the region.

Hours of work: 37.5 hours per week, 08:30 – 17:00 Mon – Fri.

The post holder will be working within HODS, assisting in streamlining the current referral and reporting processes and improving the travel of information in and out of the HODS service.

Key Duties of the role

• Act as the initial point of contact for escalated HODS results on suspected cancer specimens within Liverpool Clinical Laboratories (LCL) and HODS.
• Review and map referral processes into HODS from external referrers to ensure users receive diagnostic reports within TATs.
• Chase and balance outstanding worklist monitoring; escalated diagnostics tests requested by clinicians until a cancer has been diagnosed or excluded.
• Proactively track samples from when they arrive at HODS to when they leave, highlighting any blockers or delays in the process, identifying patients who are likely to breach their 28‑day cancer waiting time target and escalating appropriately.
• Deal promptly with email and telephone enquiries from service users.
• Develop and maintain effective working relationships with a range of HODS users in the cancer network, ensuring all patients on a cancer pathway are identified and tracked.
• Prepare, gather and present reports & slides for Multi‑Disciplinary Team (MDT) review and attend weekly MDT meetings.
• Help ensure adherence to retention regulations such as filing, retrieval and dissemination of diagnostic material.
• Perform basic specimen reception duties as and when required.

Main Tasks

• Co‑ordinate diagnostic investigations to ensure the delivery of patient care is of the highest standard.
• Act as the initial point for escalated histological results on suspected cancer specimens within Liverpool Clinical Laboratories (LCL), assisting the HODS clinical service in coordinating care by tracking patient pathways and providing a point of access.
• Enter and retrieve confidential patient data using specialist laboratory computer systems in accordance with data protection, GDPR, Caldicott guidelines.
• Assist Laboratory Managers, pathologists and the Medical Secretariat with the referral vetting process – review and map referral processes into HODS from external referrers to ensure users receive diagnostic reports within TATs.
• Gather and present relevant information to HODS consultants/reporters to assist in the provision of MDT and attend weekly Patient Tracking List (PTL) & Multi‑Disciplinary Meetings (MDT).
• Chase and escalating all diagnostics tests requested by clinicians, ensuring correct priority is selected, until a cancer has been diagnosed or excluded.
• Print, sort and dispatch laboratory reports where electronic transmission is not available.
• Proactively monitor to identify patients who are likely to breach their 28‑day cancer waiting time target and escalated appropriately to enable action to be taken.
• Develop and maintain effective working relationships with Trust‑wide services, including clinicians, Clinical Nurse Specialists (CNS), MDT Coordinators, other medical staff, medical secretaries and administrative staff to ensure all patients on a cancer pathway are identified and tracked.
• Negotiate with and instruct relevant personnel and departments of clinic bookings/diagnostic tests/admissions to be arranged or bought forward to ensure prompt diagnosis.
• Provide specimen reception support where necessary, including packaging of samples for transport to other specialist testing departments and archiving.
• Actively follow up patient results to achieve improvements in compliance. Offer to arrange support if needed.
• Communicate with GP staff / Cancer Community Support Service for complex patients who may be proving difficult to engage or attend hospital appointments.
• Be aware of dealing with potentially infectious materials, and of Departmental and Trust health and safety policies.

Additional Information

Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust comprises Aintree University Hospital, Broadgreen Hospital & Royal Liverpool University Hospital. We are part of NHS University Hospitals of Liverpool Group, formed on 1 Nov 2024 from the coming together of LUHFT and Liverpool Women’s NHS Foundation Trust. UHLG is one of the largest employers in the region, with over 16,800 colleagues dedicated to caring for our communities – from birth and beyond. For the 630,000 people across Merseyside, we are their local NHS. We provide general and emergency hospital care, alongside highly specialised regional services for more than two million people in the North West.

Aintree University Hospital is the single receiving site for adult major trauma patients in Cheshire and Merseyside and hosts a number of regional services including an award‑winning stroke facility. Broadgreen Hospital is home to elective surgical, diagnostic and treatment services, together with specialist patient rehabilitation. Liverpool Women’s Hospital specialises in the health of women and babies, delivering over 7,200 babies in the UK’s largest single site maternity hospital each year. The Royal Liverpool University Hospital is the largest hospital in the country to provide inpatients with 100% single bedrooms and focuses on complex planned care and specialist services.

For roles at Liverpool Women’s, visit their careers page.

Employment Details

Through the course of employment, staff may become aware of information concerning patients or other staff. All such information must be treated as confidential.

All staff participate in an annual performance review programme where Personal Development Plans are agreed.

See the full job description for more details.

This advert closes on Friday 28 Nov 2025.