Haematology Cancer Support Worker

NHS; Ashton-under-Lyne; On-site; GBP 26,000 - 30,000; Part time

Job summary

Join the Haematology Oncology team at Tameside Hospital as a Cancer Support Worker. This role involves liaising with patients and ensuring effective communication along their diagnostic pathway, while supporting clinical staff and improving patient care processes. Ideal candidates will possess strong communication and organisational skills, with a background in healthcare.

Qualifications

• Educated to GCSE level with a minimum of five GCSE's or equivalent qualification.
• ECDL or equivalent skills required.
• Experience in patient or customer engagement and working with multi-disciplinary teams.

Responsibilities

• Be the first point of contact for patients, families, and healthcare professionals.
• Monitor the Patient Tracking List (PTL) for efficient patient coordination.
• Communicate effectively with patients about appointments and investigations.

Skills

Good communication skills

Prioritisation

Team player

Ability to work under pressure

Education

Minimum of five GCSE's or equivalent qualification

ECDL or equivalent skills

NVQ 2/3 in Health or Social Care or equivalent experience

Job description

An exciting opportunity has arisen to join the Haematology Oncology team at Tameside Hospital as the Cancer Support Worker.

The post holder will work closely with the performance team to ensure patients that are on a Faster Diagnostic Standard (FDS) pathway are seen efficiently and appropriate diagnostic investigations are booked swiftly, being involved with each step from first referral to diagnosis. You will be a point of contact for patients and liaise directly with them to inform of appointments and what to expect.

The successful candidate will also take lead with the Patient Stratified Follow Up (PSFU) pathways, liaising with the Clinical Nurse Specialists for clinical input.

Skills such as good communication skills, prioritisation and a team player are essential.

Main duties of the job

• Closely monitor the Patient Tracking List (PTL) to have a comprehensive understanding of where each patient is up to on their pathway.
• Ensure appropriate appointments are booked in a timely manner and escalate any that have long wait times.
• Be the first point of contact for patients, their families and other health care professionals up to the point of diagnosis.
• Communicate well with various health professionals of all levels, both internal and externally.
• Promote patient centred care, following the Patient Stratified Follow Up (PSFU) framework.

About us

The Christie is one of Europe's leading cancer centres, treating over 60,000 patients a year. We are based in Manchester and serve a population of 3.2 million across Greater Manchester & Cheshire, but as a national specialist around 15% patients are referred to us from other parts of the country. We provide radiotherapy through one of the largest radiotherapy departments in the world; chemotherapy on site and through 14 other hospitals; highly specialist surgery for complex and rare cancer; and a wide range of support and diagnostic services. We are also an international leader in research, with world first breakthroughs for over 100 years. We run one of the largest early clinical trial units in Europe with over 300 trials every year. Cancer research in Manchester, most of which is undertaken on the Christie site, has been officially ranked the best in the UK.

Job responsibilities

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Closely monitor the Patient Tracking List (PTL) and have a good knowledge of which stage each patient is up to on their pathway.
• Ensuring timeliness of investigations with appropriate follow up appointment based on clinical need as assessed by the haematology team.
• Communicate with patients to arrange appointments with them for telephone assessment and triage with relevant clinical team.
• Communicate with patients to ensure that they are well prepared for their clinical investigations, providing non-clinical information.
• Be the first point of contact for patients, their relatives and Health Care Professionals up to the point of diagnosis, working closely with the relevant doctor and their team.
• Ensure the patient understands their care pathway and is aware of appointments and any changes.
• Attend MDT meetings, to represent patients who are on FDS pathways and taking any updates or actions agreed.
• Communicating with other health care professionals as appropriate to ensure patients are on track to meet their target date.
• Demonstrate an awareness of limits of own practice and knowledge and when to seek appropriate support / advice.
• Contribute to the development and implementation of policies, procedures and guidelines related to own service needs.
• Coordinates all administrative processes for each patients pathway to ensure it is managed smoothly and within agreed time frames
• Liaise and communicate with primary care centres as and when required.
• Ensure appointments are coordinated according to MDT recommendations, minimising the number of patients hospitals visits as appropriate.
• Highlight potential delays in investigation/diagnosis throughout patient pathway and escalate appropriately.
• To monitor time intervals between tests/treatment, pre-empting and identifying bottlenecks or delays in the patients pathways, escalating issues where necessary.
• Monitor investigations and tests to ensure they have been completed and results/reports are available prior to appointments, consultations and MDT meetings with the clinical team.
• Attending weekly local pathway meetings to discuss target patients with clinical teams to identify next steps and taking any potential actions to support the timeliness of patient pathways.
• Completing pathway maps for each patient on a FDS (Faster Diagnosis 28 day pathway) in real time and reviewing breached patients with service management team.
• Supporting service management team by identifying potential pathway improvements.
• Process confidential patient-sensitive documentation to and from patients, other healthcare professionals and external agencies
• Carry out all aspects of care as requested by the Haematology nursing team.
• Promote patient centred care and establish good relationships with patients.
• Identify and make contact with patients during their cancer journey, identifying required level of intervention under supervision of the Haematology Nursing Team.
• The Haematology Cancer Support Worker will be expected to take on some non-clinical aspects of the patient management.
• Triage incoming calls using good communication skills, adhering to strict protocols and policies which have been outlined and agreed with the clinical team.
• Assist Haematology Nursing Team in relevant service audit and research.
• Assess and allocate timely and appropriate Haematology Nursing Team Survivorship follow up appointments as required;
• Order educational leaflets to support the Haematology Cancer Service;
• Order supplies for nurse led clinics.

Additional Requirements:

• Follow risk management procedures at all times including the identification, assessment and management of risk within the Division.
• To abide by all Trust policies and Procedures.
• To be responsible for own professional/personal development, including participating in ongoing appraisal and personal development planning.

This job description is not intended to be exhaustive but reflects the main responsibilities of the post holder. Other duties may be required from time to time, which are commensurate with the grade of the post. This job description is subject to regular review and appropriate modification.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Educated to GCSE level with a minimum of five GCSE's or equivalent qualification/ experience
• ECDL or equivalent skills
• Basic Communication Skills Training or willingness to undertake
• Evidence of additional relevant qualifications
• ECDL
• NVQ 2/3 In Health or Social Care or equivalent experience

Experience

• oExperience of working with multi-disciplinary teams and in Isolation
• Experience of patient or customer engagement
• Experience of data entry
• Proven experience of working to tight and strict deadlines. Management of complex administrative process.
• Experience of hospital administration system (PAS)
• Previous experience of working in the NHS
• Track record of influencing & engaging staff
• Working across organisational boundaries
• Experience of extracting data from NHS IT systems
• Knowledge of cancer and the cancer diagnosis and treatment pathways

Skills

• Adaptable and flexible to meet the needs of the service to include continuing education and professional development via personal development plans
• Ability to work with distressing information
• A commitment to quality and safety
• A commitment to collaborative working to create best outcomes
• Enthusiastic and hard working
• An ability to travel between sites if required
• Good time management.
• Ability to use own initiative to be proactive with monitoring patients
• Aware of current issues within the NHS

Knowledge

• Knowledge of relevant cancer treatments, interventions and terminology
• Computer literate with good knowledge and understanding of computer packages; e.g. Microsoft Office
• Effective organisational and administrative skills with ability to prioritize workload
• Ability to work under pressure and remain calm in difficult situations
• Ability to retrieve information from a wide range of sources and in different formats
• Knowledge and experience of using the Trusts IT systems; e.g. PAS, CRIS, SCR etc

OTHER

• Ability to work under pressure
• Ability to work as part of a team
• Ability to use initiative
• Reliability & confidentiality
• Ability to work flexibly

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Employer name

The Christie NHS FT

Address

Tameside General Hospital, Fountain Street

£26,530 to £29,114 a yearper annum pro rata

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Part-time

Reference number

413-96164-CNS-SD

Job locations

Tameside General Hospital, Fountain Street