About this role
Job summary
This is an exciting opportunity to join our Lung Cancer team at Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust to deliver 5 star care to patients.
The role involves patient education and support from diagnosis through to completion of treatment or surveillance. The successful applicant will identify patient concerns through holistic needs assessment and health MOT's and refer non- clinical concerns to support agencies / groups etc creating a plan of care for patients around their needs. They will provide information on the wards to patients and be involved in health promotion.
The post holder will need to demonstrate excellent organisational skills, must be flexible in approach, able to exercise initiative and demonstrate integrity, a consistently high standard of professionalism and an awareness of the importance of maintaining confidentiality.
The post holder must be willing to undertake on-going training and development, supported by the clinical team.
The post holder will be based at Southport hospital but may be required to work across both St. Helens, Whiston sites to deliver a comprehensive service to patients with cancer and their relatives/carers. They must be flexible to suite the service including evenings and weekends
Main duties of the job
Develop and maintain effective working relationships with clinical team, cancer support workers, managers and others within department and Trust wide service users. Be single point of contact for all non-routine enquires from patients, facilitating communication and information flows, initiating and responding to correspondence and resolving enquiries. Organise incoming and outgoing mail both paper and electronic. Liaise with GPs/cancer services as appropriate. Liaise with patient's consultants' secretaries and cancer information tracking team. Specifically assist the CNS's in coordinating care by managing and supporting patient pathways Providing a point of access, including rapid re-entry into the system for those people identified as having urgent or specialist needs through the Health MOT red flag alert Triage incoming calls, using a risk assessment framework. Initiate appropriate response according to protocols and individual pathways. Use good communication skills, and appropriate tools and procedures. Liaise as appropriate with the CNS; refer complex decisions to the team. Provide basic telephone advice and refer on or signpost to other sources of support Support and contribute to any audit processes, governance, research, clinical research trials.
About us
Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust serves a population of over 600,000 with a workforce of over 10,500 dedicated and skilled staff across 21 sites.
Our services:
Acute Care
Providing emergency and maternity services at Whiston, Southport and Ormskirk hospitals, and medical and surgical specialties across all our sites.
Primary Care
Providing primary care services at Marshalls Cross Medical Centre situated in St Helens Hospital.
Community Services
Providing adult community services for St Helens and a wheelchair service in Chorley, South Ribble, and West Lancashire. Our inpatient unit at Newton Community Hospital is where patients needing acute hospital beds can continue rehabilitation. We also provide urgent care at our Urgent Treatment Centre located in St Helens town centre.
Specialist Regional Services
We provide the Mersey Regional Burns & Plastic Surgery Unit at Whiston Hospital and the Spinal Injuries Unit at Southport Hospital to more than 4 million people across the whole of Merseyside, West Lancashire, Cheshire, Isle of Man and North Wales.
Achievements:
Rated Outstanding by CQC Inspection August 2018 Top 100 places to work in the NHS (NHS Employers & Health Service Journal) National Preceptorship Accreditation (2023) for Nursing & AHP Preceptorship Programme.
Job description Job responsibilities
CORDINATION OF SERVICES
Co-ordinate and track patient pathways, in particular during the diagnostic period, under the supervision of the Nurse Specialist. Pay particular attention to complex patient pathways which may need close monitoring and re-adjustment to maintain optimal pathway standards. Liaise closely with the MDT co-ordinator ensuring robust systems of notification and where appropriate co-ordinate transfer of care. Under supervision of the CNS deliver patient-centred support and education as necessary to non-complex patients, and in some cases, complex patients. Encourage and support active and healthy lifestyle choices. Support patients and their families to understand what signs, symptoms or situations to be aware of that would indicate concern. Advise patients and their families on how to make contact with the Trust when they feel that there are delays in their pathway or require additional information. Advise patients and their families on how to make contact when they feel that their condition or needs have changed, including what to do out of hours. Ensure that the patient, where applicable, follows the optimal care pathway, and escalate if any issues arise or there are any delays. Navigates the complex health and social care system, both during and following completion of cancer treatment, by building relationships with professionals and facilitating access to these services including generating referrals on the persons behalf where necessary. Provides practical and emotional support to the person living with cancer and their families. Recognises information needs may change over time and works with the person to ensure they have all the information and support they need at all stages of the cancer journey. Documents and monitors all aspects of care coordination and service delivery, supporting data collection, and how people living with cancer use the service, including care, support and follow up services they access. COMMUNICATION
Develop and maintain effective working relationships with clinicians, managers and others within department and Trust wide service users. Be the point of contact for all routine enquires facilitating communication and information flows, initiating and responding to correspondence and resolving enquiries. Organise incoming and outgoing mail both paper and electronic. Liaise with GPs/cancer services as appropriate. Liaise with patients and other consultants secretaries. Work with other support workers across the region to adopt best practice. Specifically assist the CNSs in coordinating care by tracking patient pathways and providing a point of access, including rapid re-entry into the system for those people identified as having urgent or specialist needs. Use good communication skills, and appropriate tools and procedures, liaising as appropriate with the CNS when non routine and refer complex decisions to the team for assessment and review. Provide basic telephone advice and refer on or sign-post to other sources of support. EDUCATION AND TRAINING
Demonstrate willingness to identify own learning and development needs and willing to undertake further study both formal and informal to meet these. Take responsibility for own learning and development by recognising and taking advantage of all opportunities to learn, including full participation in appraisal, supervision, action learning and by maintaining a professional/personal portfolio of learning. Assist with systems and processes to ensure that learning needs are identified and met and that all learning is planned, implemented, evaluated and shared in order to change and improve services according to changing health care needs. Advise patients on individual self-care management principles and provide consistent planned aftercare advice to reinforce and further promote this information. Deliver patient-centred, self-management support and education as necessary to patients. Support the delivery of patient and carer training and education. Demonstrate self-directed learning, actively seeking role development opportunities to enhance practice, knowledge and role progression. Identify personal education needs and skills development with the registered practitioner Demonstrate own activities to new or less experiences employees. Participate in patient and public involvement activities to promote the service including awareness and promotional events outside of the centre. GOVERNANCE
Support the team in the effective use of resources, e.g. budget, supplies and materials. Contribute to the development and maintenance of relationships with other departments, wards within the Trust and external agencies, charities, and regional cancer centres. Work collaboratively with clinical/non-clinical services internal and external to the organisation to provide a seamless service which is responsive to individual patients needs; Liaise with all members of the extended MDT to aid facilitation of a collaborative approach to the care of the patient. Be flexible in your approach, able to exercise initiative and demonstrate a consistently high standard of professionalism, being aware of the need for confidentiality and integrity. Comment on proposed changes to policies and procedures where required. Support and contribute to audit processes, governance, research, clinical research trials and service development. Provide a wide range of administrative and clerical support to the clinical team including data collection, stock taking, report writing, including annual report and operational policy. Support the MDT process to ensure compliance with cancer performance standards and reduce delays in the diagnostic pathway. Support the information needs of the individual cancer teams e.g. Quality surveillance programme and national audits.
Person Specification
Qualifications Essential
GCSE Level 4 or above or equivalent including Mathematics & English ECDL or equivalent experience Level 3 Health or Social care qualification (NVQ or similar)
Desirable
Evidence of continued role development
Knowledge & Experience Essential
Relevant health or social care experience Efficient in use of Microsoft word, Excel, PowerPoint, outlook and internet Sound knowledge of medical terminology Understanding of patient centred care Good documentation and written skills
Desirable
Previous medical secretarial or administrative experience Knowledge of relevant cancer treatments, interventions and terminology Knowledge of basic counselling
Skills Essential
Able to use own initiative and work without supervision Able to prioritise own work and work of others Possess excellent communication skills Ability to communicate both verbally and non-verbally daily with people at all levels Ability to adapt to change within a working situation. Good observation skills Practical problem solving skills
Other Essential
Able to work under pressure The post requires a frequent use of concentration Communicating with a wide variety of people including patients, carers, medical staff and the public The post holder may be exposed to sensitive, emotional circumstances when dealing with patients Demonstrate enthusiasm The post holder will work across clinics, attend meetings and also be office based Must be prepared to work across different hospital sites
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 details Employer name Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
Address Southport Hospital
Town Lane
Southport
PR8 6PN
United Kingdom
Employer's website https://www.merseywestlancs.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)