Cancer Waiting

Lewisham & Greenwich NHS Trust; City of Westminster; On-site; GBP 25,000 - 35,000; Full time

Job summary

A local healthcare provider in the UK seeks a dynamic individual to join their cancer administration team. This position involves supporting patients referred for suspected cancer, ensuring timely appointment bookings in adherence to national targets. Responsibilities include managing sensitive information, processing referrals, and coordinating efforts with various healthcare departments. The ideal candidate is well-organized, flexible, and able to work in a fast-paced environment.

Qualifications

• Innovative, enthusiastic, flexible, and dynamic individual.
• Well-organised and motivated to support a busy team.
• Ability to manage complex and sensitive information.

Responsibilities

• Act as the main contact for patients referred with urgent suspected cancer.
• Process GP letters, electronic referrals, and emails.
• Prioritise daily workload to meet cancer waiting time targets.
• Liaise with patients to offer choice and escalate potential breaches.
• Ensure all systems are updated for recording cancer waiting times.

Job description

About the Role

The Cancer administration team are responsible for ensuring national Cancer Waiting Time targets are met. This post provides an opportunity to join an enthusiastic team within the Trust. These are key posts within Cancer Services and it is an exciting opportunity to be part of the ongoing development across our integrated organisation.

PLEASE NOTE: We are unable to offer sponsorship for this post.

Candidate Profile

We are looking for innovative, enthusiastic, flexible and dynamic individuals who are well‑organised and motivated to provide support to a busy and fast‑paced team. You will provide a robust administrative service to ensure that patients referred to the Trust on a suspected cancer referral are booked an appointment within the national target of 14 days.

Key Responsibilities

• To act as the main point of contact on a daily basis for patients who have been referred in with urgent suspected cancer and to manage this complex and sensitive information appropriately and with tact as patients may be anxious or unaware of the reason for their referral.
• To take responsibility for processing all GP letters, electronic referrals, faxes, telephone calls and emails in relation to the Cancer Two Week Wait Standard.
• Assist the Two Week Wait Co‑ordinator to ensure the smooth running of the office and be able to cover accordingly in the absence of the Co‑ordinator.
• Prioritise the daily workload to ensure that any referrals received, and all urgent matters are dealt with as soon as possible within the relevant Cancer Waiting Time targets and ensure a high level of administrative and clerical support is available.
• Input and extract information via the Trusts' Patient Information Management System (iCare) and the Trusts' Cancer Tracking and Reporting system as required.
• Record all referrals received into the department on a daily basis, scanning them onto the system and inputting all appointment and patient details onto the required databases that are used within the Trust.
• To liaise with the designated Managers, Consultants' secretaries, the Call Centre and medical records as required to identify all appropriate referrals for inclusion in the Standard that have not been received centrally. This may be in person, on the telephone or electronically.
• To liaise with patients to offer choice in line with local and national policies on access, booking and choice.
• To take full responsibility for escalating potential breaches to the relevant manager and identifying possible future capacity issues across all specialists.
• To appropriately prioritise booking of appointments during periods of increased referrals, incorporating management of clinician leave.
• Ensure that the patient notes are collected and given to the relevant team if a TWR is booked at very short notice (within 1 working day of appointment).
• Review and assess referrals into the Trust in order to appropriately allocate them to clinical specialities or subspecialities. To then regularly check on the status of the appointment if the referral is handled outside of the postholder.
• Liaise with GPs, providing information and support regarding TWRs. In particular regarding inappropriate referrals, non‑use of the TWR proformas and timeliness of receiving referrals.
• Postholders would be expected to follow policies to ensure the above areas are both monitored and managed effectively.
• Ensure both the local and national systems used for recording and reporting cancer waiting times are updated with the details for each patient dealt with by the TWR office in order to audit and monitor cancer waiting times targets.
• Ensure patient choice standards are adhered to when booking appointments and that any cancellations or non‑attendance of appointments by patients is correctly recorded on the appropriate local and national systems.
• To deal with all queries from patients and staff in a polite, professional and courteous manner.
• Process all new patient referrals ensuring accurate data entry, making every attempt to contact the patient by telephone on two separate occasions before generating appointment letters for dispatch from the appropriate Trust systems, ensuring all required relevant documentation is attached.
• To ensure that appropriate checks are in place and made regularly to ensure that any routine scanned referrals that are upgraded by Consultants are actioned, recorded appropriately and the necessary appointments arranged.
• Be aware at all times of the important nature of the work dealt with in the Cancer Data Team and how this could impact on patient care and possible breaches of targets and how everyone within the team must be accountable for their part in this process at all times.
• To work with the MDT Co‑ordinators to ensure all cancer cases are adequately reported both locally and nationally.
• To use any of the local or national tools available to monitor incoming referrals from other Trusts.
• To use the hospital computer systems to track case notes and collect data.
• To validate data and take corrective action where required.

We reserve the right to close the post before the stated closing date, please apply early. We do not contact applicants with the outcome of the shortlisting. If you have been shortlisted, you will receive an invite to an assessment day or interview.

Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Statement

As a local employer and anchor institution we work closely with our community to recruit locally and we welcome applications from the widest variety of people to ensure our workforce is reflective of the local communities which we serve. We encourage all suitable candidates to apply including if you are Black, Asian or other ethnic minorities, live with a disability (visible or not) or are LGBT+. We have a number of active staff networks including Disability, LGBT+, Multicultural Inclusion and Women's staff networks to bring staff together and celebrate diversity across our whole workforce.

Please note that sponsorship under the Skilled Worker route is subject to Trust allocation and UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) approval.

About Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust (LGT)

Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust (LGT) is a community‑focused provider of local and acute care, delivering high‑quality services to over one million people living across the London boroughs of Lewisham, Greenwich and Bexley. We provide whole‑life care and are here to support our communities to live healthier lives as well as to take care of them when they need us the most.