Non-Specific Symptom Pathway Clinical Nurse Specialist

University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust; Bristol; On-site; GBP 37,000 - 45,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading healthcare provider is seeking a Non-Specific Symptom Pathway Clinical Nurse Specialist to join their team in Bristol. This role involves supporting patients with non-specific symptoms, coordinating care with healthcare professionals, and utilizing exceptional communication and organizational skills. The successful candidate will work in a dynamic environment, contributing to high-quality patient care and service development.

Qualifications

• Current NMC Registration required.
• 1st Degree in nursing or health-related subject.
• Experience in teaching and assessing.

Responsibilities

• Support patients through the diagnostic pathway.
• Liaise with healthcare professionals for coordinated care.
• Provide emotional support and guidance to patients and families.

Skills

Organisation

Communication

Empathy

Teaching

Problem Solving

Education

1st Degree in nursing or health related subject

Current NMC Registration

Qualification in Teaching and Assessing

Willingness to work towards Masters level academic study

Tools

Microsoft Office

Job description

Non-Specific Symptom Pathway Clinical Nurse Specialist

Band 6

Main area 2ww Cancer Pathway Non Specific Symptom Pathway Grade Band 6 Contract Fixed term: 3 months (3 months from start date) Hours

• Full time
• Flexible working

37.5 hours per week (Successful candidate will need to work Tuesday's due to weekly team case review) Job ref 387-SPS4506-GB

Site Bristol Haematology and Oncology Centre Town Bristol Salary £37,338 - £44,962 pa pro rata Salary period Yearly Closing 04/06/2025 23:59

As an organisation we recognise the value of a healthy work-life balance. When applying, speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate flexible working, so your work life fits around your home life.

We particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and minority ethnic candidates as they are under-represented within the Trust.

The Non-Specific Symptom Pathway (NSSP) offers a single point of access to a diagnostic pathway for patients with non-specific symptoms. The post holder will need to work in close collaboration with care of the elderly consultant at North Bristol NHST Trust and, Primary and secondary care to support a tailored pathway of clinically relevant diagnostic tests towards a timely diagnosis. The post holder will utilize skills of clinical expertise, education and management to ensure a high quality service for patients, carers and staff.

The NSSP CNS will undertake a pivotal role alongside the Pathway Navigator, liaising with patients who are referred, acting as the main point of contact, offering support and keeping patients informed at each stage. Once diagnosis is known, to refer to the appropriate team or back to the GP’s for ongoing management ensuring a seamless transition of care. The post holder will work closely with the NSSP GP to support triage of referrals, liaising with colleagues within diagnostic services across Trusts to ensure that investigations and tests are timely and co-ordinated.

(Cont'd under detailed job description and main responsibilities)

Main duties of the job

The NSSP Clinical Nurse Specialist role is varied and constantly developing to meet the speciality needs and evolving site specific referral pathways within Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire. You will be required to work autonomously at times and will need to utilise exceptional organisational and communication skills to guide patients, their families and carers through the pathway.

The role involves working with a small proportion of patients who will be diagnosed with cancer or other urgent diagnoses requiring quick and decisive treatment plans including possible urgent hospital admission. The nature of communication required is sensitive and therefore a high degree of empathy and understanding is required. Advance communication skills need to be used to deliver potentially distressing information to patients and carers, and provide them with advice and emotional support within in the community, utilising appropriate primary and secondary care services when required.

As a NSSP Clinical Nurse Specialist you will be using your expertise on cancer diagnostic pathways along with general medical knowledge to support patients, their carers and other health care professionals within an outpatient setting.

Working for our organisation

University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust (UHBW) is one of the largest acute Trusts in the country, bringing together a combined workforce of over 13,000 staff and over 100 different clinical services across 10 different sites, serving a core population of more than 500,000 people across South West England. UHBW has been rated by the CQC as ‘Good’ overall and our staff are proud to deliver excellent care to the people of Bristol, Weston and beyond. As a forward- thinking multi-award winning Trust and a digital exemplar committed to improving patient care, our world-leading research and innovations are having a positive local and global impact. Our hospitals are spread across Bristol and Weston, join us and you can enjoy the very best of both worlds; city living within a stone’s throw of the countryside or beside the seaside, both with easy access to all that the South West has to offer. UHBW is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. As an equal opportunities employer actively working towards a diverse workforce we aim to recruit and retain a workforce which represents the rich diversity of the local population at all levels and are committed to designing our services around the needs of individual patients and those around them. Anonymous information will be used from your application in order to ensure we’re meeting our pledge.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

(Job overview cont.)

The post holder will collect and present data to evaluate and demonstrate effectiveness and value of this new service. They will also assist with the collation and review of the pre-existing patient feedback survey for NSSP. There are opportunities to assist with service development including the setting up of weekly clinics. The NS SP service intends to align the NSSP pathway alongside other cancer pathways such as the Neuro Endocrine Tumour diagnostic pathway.

The NSSP CNS will work alongside the newly formed NSSP team and work closely with the NSSP Patient Navigator and two GPs.

For a more detailed job description, main responsibilities, and person specification, please refer to the job description document attached to this vacancy.

Person specification

• Respecting Everyone
• Recognising success
• Working Together

Qualifications and Training

• Current NMC Registration
• 1st Degree In nursing or health related subject, willing to undertake/ working towards
• Qualification in Teaching and Assessing
• Willingness to work towards Masters level academic study

Skills and Abilities

• Organisation and management skills
• Teaching
• Ability to work effectively under pressure
• Ability to problem solve
• Flexibility, adaptability to meet needs of a changing service
• Ability to work alone or as part of a team
• Ability to cope with emotional issues presented in the course of work, and to support others
• Knowledge of national and local specialty specific issues
• IT skills including use of email and Microsoft office packages
• Act as a role model and as a mentor/assessor
• Innovative and participates with practice and policy change
• Awareness of professional responsibilities to self and others
• Commitment to the development and provision of high quality nursing care
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills
• Awareness of current national changes in nursing / NHS

Knowledge and Experience

• Appropriate proven leadership and management experience
• Proven commitment and experience, evidence in teaching
• Experience as preceptor / mentor
• Experience of undertaking research or audit projects
• Evidence of commitment to research based practice or evidence of project work undertaken

We hope that you will decide to join us and become part of this exciting journey, helping us to shape our future together.

· As an equal opportunities employer actively working towards a diverse workforce we aim to recruit and retain a workforce which represents the rich diversity of the local population at all levels and are committed to designing our services around the needs of individual patients and those around them. Anonymous information will be used from your application to ensure we’re meeting our pledge.

· The Trust is committed to investing in and caring for all our staff. We will support you in maintaining and improving your health and wellbeing, as well as your career development through management and training support - developing exceptional people for exceptional careers.

· UHBW is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people, and vulnerable adults.

· To comply with Part 7 of the Immigration Act 2016 all applicants must be able to speak fluent English to an appropriate standard which will be assessed at Interview.

· If you require sponsorship for a visa to work in the UK, to avoid disappointment, please check to ensure you are eligible under the UKVI points based system.

· The Trust uses electronic new starter forms on Trac to collect personal details. Information collected is securely stored and used to set up the employee record on the ESR HR system.

· By applying for this post, you are agreeing to University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust transferring the information contained in this application to its preferred applicant management system. If you are offered a job, information will also be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system.

· Please be aware of scams – unless specified above, we will only communicate with you via @recruit.trac.jobs or nhs.net e-mails and we will never ask you for any payments.

IMPORTANT:

Please note that if you apply for a position with this Trust, you may be contacted via Trac or via email. This includes invites for job interviews. We therefore recommend that you regularly check your Trac account and email accounts. We may also contact you by texting the mobile number, if provided, on the application form.

Due to the high number of applications that are received for some posts we may close this vacancy before the advertised closing date. Therefore, please apply for this post as soon as you can, if you are interested and you meet the requirements of the Person Specification

Only those candidates who clearly demonstrate how they meet the person specification will be shortlisted for this job.

As a guide interviews should usually take place within 3 weeks of the closing date.

When providing employment reference details, please provide correct work-related email addresses so references can be sought promptly when we are looking to progress your application. Your referee must all be known to you in a line manager or professional lead capacity.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.