Pathology Patient Pathway Co-ordinator

ESHT; St Leonards; Remote; GBP 32,000 - 39,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

NHS pension scheme

On-site staff accommodation

Staff restaurants

Parking

Employee assistance program

Job summary

East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust is recruiting a Patient Pathway Co-ordinator within the Cellular Pathology team at Conquest Hospital. The role links pathology, cancer services and clinical teams to progress cancer diagnostics within target timelines.

You will monitor specimens, investigations and reports, identify delays, attend PTLs, and maintain accurate pathway information while supporting service improvements in a busy NHS environment.

Qualifications

• GCSE / A Level including English and Maths.
• NVQ Level 4 Management Certification / Business Services or proven relevant training and experience.
• Evidence of ongoing relevant professional development to degree level or equivalent.

Responsibilities

• Co-ordinating and monitoring the pathology component of cancer patient pathways, tracking specimens, investigations, results and reports against agreed turnaround times and cancer pathway milestones.
• Proactively identifying and resolving potential delays, expediting outstanding investigations and reports and escalating pathway risks or concerns appropriately.
• Attending Cancer PTL and relevant pathway meetings, providing pathology updates and progressing actions for patients requiring close monitoring.
• Working closely with Cellular Pathology, Cancer Services, tumour-site PPCs, clinical teams, external pathology providers and tertiary centres to support timely clinical decision-making.
• Maintaining, validating and reconciling accurate cancer pathway information across relevant clinical and administrative systems, identifying and resolving data-quality issues.
• Monitoring and analysing turnaround times and pathway performance, identifying trends, exceptions and breaches and supporting the production of performance information.
• Acting as a key point of contact for pathology-related cancer pathway enquiries, using judgement and initiative to resolve issues or escalating where appropriate.
• Supporting failsafe processes, including monitoring outstanding ancillary investigations such as IHC and genomic testing, to minimise avoidable delays.

Skills

Analytical thinking

Communication

Attention to detail

Education

GCSEs / A Levels incl English & Maths

NVQ Level 4 Management Certification / Business Services

Degree-level development or equivalent

Job description

We do not charge fees for job applications, recruitment processes, sponsorship arrangements or employment offers. All current vacancies can be found below, with the published contact details being the only authorised routes for recruitment communications, applications and verification of job offers.

Main area Cellular Pathology Grade NHS AfC: Band 5 Contract Permanent: Post is to be based at Conquest Hours Full time - 37.5 hours per week (Monday to Friday) Job ref 374-EDCG8126

Site Conquest Hospital Town St Leonards-on-Sea Salary £32,073 - £39,043 per annum, pro rata Salary period Yearly Closing 13/10/2026 23:59

We are proud to provide ‘Outstanding’ care and be a great place to work.

East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust provides safe, compassionate and high quality hospital and community care to the half a million people living in East Sussex and those who visit our local area.

We are one of the largest organisations in East Sussex with an annual income of £700 million and we are the only integrated provider of acute and community care in Sussex.

Our extensive health services are provided by over 8,000+ dedicated members of staff working from two acute hospitals in Hastings and Eastbourne, three community hospitals in Bexhill, Rye and Uckfield, over 100 community sites across East Sussex, and in people’s own homes.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) rated us as ‘Good’ overall, and ‘Outstanding’ for being Caring and Effective. The Conquest Hospital in Hastings and our Community Services were rated ‘Outstanding’ and Eastbourne DGH was rated ‘Good’ Our two acute hospitals have Emergency Departments and provide 24 hour a day care, offering a comprehensive range of surgical, medical, outpatient and maternity services, supported by a full range of diagnostic and therapy services.

Job overview

We have an exciting opportunity for a Patient Pathway Co-ordinator to join our Cellular Pathology team. The post provides a vital link between Cellular Pathology, Cancer Services, clinical teams and external providers, supporting the timely progression of patients through the cancer diagnostic pathway.

You will monitor and track pathology specimens, investigations, results and reports against national cancer waiting time standards and locally agreed milestones, proactively identifying and resolving potential delays and escalating concerns where necessary. The role also includes attending Cancer PTL meetings, maintaining and validating accurate pathway information, monitoring performance and supporting service improvement.

We are looking for a confident, proactive and highly organised individual who can use their initiative, exercise judgement and manage competing priorities in a busy and pressured environment. Excellent written and verbal communication skills, strong IT skills and the ability to analyse and interpret information are essential.

Main duties of the job

• Co-ordinating and monitoring the pathology component of cancer patient pathways, tracking specimens, investigations, results and reports against agreed turnaround times and cancer pathway milestones.
• Proactively identifying and resolving potential delays, expediting outstanding investigations and reports and escalating pathway risks or concerns appropriately.
• Attending Cancer PTL and relevant pathway meetings, providing pathology updates and progressing actions for patients requiring close monitoring.
• Working closely with Cellular Pathology, Cancer Services, tumour-site PPCs, clinical teams, external pathology providers and tertiary centres to support timely clinical decision-making.
• Maintaining, validating and reconciling accurate cancer pathway information across relevant clinical and administrative systems, identifying and resolving data-quality issues.
• Monitoring and analysing turnaround times and pathway performance, identifying trends, exceptions and breaches and supporting the production of performance information.
• Acting as a key point of contact for pathology-related cancer pathway enquiries, using judgement and initiative to resolve issues or escalating where appropriate.
• Supporting failsafe processes, including monitoring outstanding ancillary investigations such as IHC and genomic testing, to minimise avoidable delays.

Working for our organisation

A wide range of staff benefits are available to our staff including staff development, enrolment in the NHS pension scheme, auto-enrolment to our Temporary Workforce Service, access to nurseries at Conquest Hospital and Eastbourne District General Hospital, staff restaurants and on-site staff accommodation.

In addition to an internal Occupational Health department, all staff also have access to free psychological support through our confidential Employee Assistance Programme which is available to staff 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Onsite parking is available for a small administration fee.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please refer to the job description attached.

If you have any questions about this position please do not hesitate to contact us.

Qualifications

• Good standard of educated to GCSE / A Level - including English and Maths
• NVQ Level 4 Management Certification / Business Services or proven relevant training and experience
• Evidence of on-going relevant professional development to degree level or equivalent

Experience

• Previous experience of analysing data
• Previous experience of working for the NHS or another large organisation
• Experience of working without close supervision and multi-tasking to tight deadlines
• Must have experience of working under pressure and within a large team
• Awareness of National Cancer Targets and COSD
• Experience of service improvement
• Previous experience of working in the NHS
• Understanding of hospital IT systems

Skills

• To be able to understand cancer waiting times and make decisions on the information
• Good grounding in medical terminology

Patients come first at East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust.

Our vision is to be:

• The healthcare provider of first choice for the people of East Sussex.

Our mission is to:

• Deliver better health outcomes and an excellent experience for everyone we provide with healthcare services.

Our strategic objectives are to:

• Improve quality and clinical outcomes by ensuring that safe patient care is our highest priority.
• Play a leading role in local partnerships to meet the needs of our local population and improve and enhance patients’ experiences.
• Use our resources efficiently and effectively for the benefit of our patients and their care to ensure our services are clinically, operationally and financially sustainable.

Our aims are that all services delivered by the Trust are:

• Safe
• Effective
• Caring
• Responsive and
• Well led

Employer certification / accreditation badges

The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.