About this role
Job summary
An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Specialist Screening Practitioner (SSP) to join the expanding Bowel Cancer Screening Programme. This role supports service growth following the introduction of the FIT@80 pathway, helping to deliver high-quality screening, surveillance, and early cancer detection services.
As an SSP, you will provide specialist assessment, counselling, and support to participants throughout their screening journey, including managing patients with abnormal FIT results, coordinating colonoscopy pathways, and ensuring timely follow-up care. Working within a multidisciplinary team, you will help maintain national screening standards while delivering a patient-centred service.
We are seeking a registered healthcare professional with excellent communication, clinical assessment, and organisational skills. Experience in cancer services, gastroenterology, endoscopy, or screening programmes is desirable, although full training will be provided.
Based at Kettering General Hospital, the role also requires working across Northampton General Hospital. This is an excellent opportunity to contribute to cancer prevention, early diagnosis, and improved patient outcomes within a supportive team.
Main duties of the job
We are seeking enthusiastic and motivated registered healthcare professionals who are passionate about improving patient outcomes through early cancer detection and prevention. The successful candidates will demonstrate:
Strong clinical assessment and patient management skills Excellent communication and interpersonal abilities, including confidence in discussing sensitive and complex information A compassionate, patient-centred approach to care Strong organisational skills with the ability to manage a varied workload effectively Experience of working within multidisciplinary teams Sound decision-making and problem-solving skills Attention to detail and a commitment to maintaining high-quality standards Good IT and documentation skills Flexibility and ability to travel between Kettering General Hospital and Northampton General Hospital sites Experience in cancer services, gastroenterology, endoscopy, screening programmes an advantage but not essential Training Requirement A mandatory requirement of this role is the successful completion of the Level 6 Specialist Screening Practitioner (SSP) Course within 12 months of commencing the post. Completion of this qualification is essential to continue in the role.
Full support will be provided to attend and complete the programme, which is delivered at Torbay Hospital in partnership with the University of Plymouth.
About us
Please submit your application as soon as possible, as we reserve the right to close adverts once sufficient applications have been received.
We recognise that AI tools can support application writing; however, candidates are asked to keep their use to a minimum. Responses should reflect your own experience, skills and knowledge, as over-reliance on AI-generated content may result in generic answers that do not accurately represent your abilities.
University Hospitals of Northamptonshire (UHN) brings together Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust. As a group, we are committed to improving services for our communities through collaboration, modernising care delivery and striving for excellence. Working together enables us to share expertise, strengthen services and create greater opportunities, and there may be a requirement to work across sites depending on service needs.
Our Excellence Values are Compassion, Accountability, Respect, Integrity and Courage. UHN welcomes applications from all backgrounds and is committed to an inclusive working environment. We are proud signatories of the Armed Forces Covenant and hold the Gold Award under the Employer Recognition Scheme. Candidates who identify as members of the Armed Forces community and meet the essential criteria will be guaranteed an interview.
Job description Job responsibilities
Please see attached Job Description and Person Specification for a full list of all Roles and Responsibilities.
Person Specification
Education and training Qualifications Essential
Registered General Nurse CPD - Evidence of post qualifying and continuing professional development/revalidation
Desirable
Evidence of diploma/degree level training Mentor/teaching/assessing qualification
Knowledge and Experience Essential
2 years' experience as a registered general nurse Knowledge of professional and NHS issues relating to Bowel Cancer Screening Ability to work under pressure and prioritise workload with minimal supervision Works effectively within a team Working in a multi-disciplinary team environment
Desirable
Completed SSP Course at level 6 or 7 Endoscopy experience Knowledge of Colorectal disease and treatments
Skills Essential
Ability to apply knowledge and skills to a broad range of clinically and professionally challenging situations. IT Skills - knowledge of a number IT packages such as word, Excel and other patient management systems Clinical judgement and decision making Effective communication written & verbal skills Data input, collection, analysis, audit and evaluation
Desirable
Counselling skills - Advanced Communication Course
Key Competencies/Personal Qualities and Attributes Essential
Passionate and committed to bring our Dedicated to Excellence values to life, improving the way we work with each other, particularly focusing on empowerment, equality diversity and inclusion of our staff, patients and service users Organisational skills - good time management and ability to prioritise with competing pressures. Displays enthusiasm and self-motivation Confident at dealing with all staff in all disciplines and grades Be polite and professional Displays a willingness to learn and develop themselves Be reliable and conscientious Display a flexible approach
Desirable
Evidence of working autonomously Negotiation and conflict management skills
Working conditions Essential
Be able to drive to screening sites Be IT literate and able to work at a computer for prolonged periods of time Able to stand for prolonged periods of time during procedures Ability to deal with regular interruptions and demands Be able to share an office with numerous members of the team and hot desk Ability to work in a changing environment Be able to adapt to different departments, work with different teams and use any resources available
Desirable
Ability to deal with distressed/anxious patients/ relatives
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.
Certificate of Sponsorship Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
Employer details Employer name Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Address University Hospitals of Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire
Kettering
NN16 8UZ
United Kingdom
Employer's website https://www.kgh.nhs.uk/working-for-us (Opens in a new tab)