An exciting opportunity has arisen for an experienced cancer nurse to join the cancer services team at Walsall HealthCare NHS Trust.
The Lead Cancer Nurse will provide strategic leadership for the cancer nursing and Allied Health Professional (AHP) workforce, ensuring high-quality, patient-centred care. This will involve working with key stakeholders; West Midlands Cancer Alliance (WMCA), Integrated care boards (ICB’s), Macmillan, local commissioners to ensure the national and local cancer agenda is implemented.
Lead the nursing agenda to develop specialist cancer services in support of the 10 Year Health Plan for England and the National Cancer Plan 2026.
This role will ensure cancer care for all patients within the Trust is of a high standard, equitable and consistent and in line with National and regional guidance.
The post holder will also support the Divisional Directors of Nursing overseeing the delivery of quality safety improvements, linking national standards to ensure services meet required and best practice. They will have Trust oversight of harm reviews related to cancer patient pathways and will provide expertise to the divisions identifying areas for improvement or development.
The postholder will support the roll-out and promotion of educational opportunities that would facilitate the multi-professional team skills and knowledge of clinical practice with reference to the ACCEND core capability framework.
- Develop strong, effective relationships with the cancer nurse specialists and collaborate with lead professionals representing the AHP's ensuring that a patient-centred multidisciplinary approach to care is maintained across the Trust.
- Contribute to the development, implementation and evaluation of innovative models of care delivery ensuring cancer services are of a high standard, equitable and consistent.
- Work with all major stakeholders in the business planning process for cancer services, ensuring that improvements are driven by the quality of patient experience and are in line with local and network priorities and key performance measures.
- Encourage communication with patients, visitors and staff and through observations of practice and monitoring of standards ensure the maintenance of an optimal environment for patient care.
- Provide leadership for change and service improvement within all cancer areas, through the promotion of nursing as a profession within the multi-disciplinary environment.
- Lead the embedding of or implementation of projects aligned to the National Policy for Cancer Strategy, including the Person Centred Follow Up Pathway and the embedding of Personalised Care across cancer services.
- Work collaboratively with all major stakeholders to ensure the delivery of quality cancer services are in line with their values and priorities.
Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust is an integrated Trust and the only provider of NHS acute care in Walsall, serving a population of 284,300, providing inpatient and outpatient services at the Manor Hospital as well as a wide range of services in the community. Walsall Manor houses the full range of district general hospital services under one roof. The £170 million development was completed in 2010 and the continued upgrading of existing areas ensures the Trust now has a state-of-the-art Critical Care Unit, Neonatal Unit, Obstetric Theatre, and Integrated Assessment Unit facilities.
A new Urgent Emergency Care Centre was opened in March 2023. The two-storey development has significantly improved emergency care facilities and capacity and has provided almost 5,000 square metres of additional clinical space.
Main Duties and Responsibilities
- Develop strong, effective relationships with the cancer nurse specialists to develop partnerships and collaborate with lead professionals representing the AHP's ensuring that a patient-centred multidisciplinary approach to care is maintained across the Trust.
- Contribute to the development, implementation and evaluation of innovative models of care delivery and meeting targets within agreed timescales, in accordance with national guidelines, for the clinical management of patients with cancer, ensuring cancer services are of a high standard, equitable and consistent.
- Influence the on-going development of cancer nursing care to ensure the delivery of robust cancer services throughout the patients’ cancer journey; working with the Divisions and all major stakeholders in the business planning process for cancer services, ensuring that improvements are driven by the quality of patient experience and are in line with local and network priorities and key performance measures.
- Take the lead nursing role on the co-ordination and delivery of the Quality assurance programme and facilitate the Internal Validation process.
- Co-ordinate and chair cancer nursing and AHP meetings regularly within the Trust and Liaise with the Trust Cancer steering group, lead clinicians of each cancer specific tumour group and AHP's ensuring the professional exchange of information, adherence to national cancer standards and to respond to urgent local, regional and national directives, which affect cancer care.
- Advise on the establishment and skill mix of appropriate cancer nursing workforce in particular cancer nurse specialist posts, to ensure the delivery of robust cancer services and actively contribute to the recruitment of senior nursing staff involved in cancer care.
- Demonstrate expert knowledge and high standards of clinical practice support and develop the lead and senior cancer care nurses across the trust to advance the development and practice of research and evidence-based cancer nursing in line with national recommendations and standards where these are available.
- Act as a positive role model through the provision of effective professional leadership for relevant clinical teams, maintaining high visibility through undertaking activities such as clinical practice or observations of care.
- Provide leadership for change and service improvement within all cancer areas, through the promotion of nursing as a profession within the multi-disciplinary environment.
- To have professional responsibility for all the Cancer CNS's within the Trust.
- Lead on ensuring patient complaints, adverse clinical incidents / harm and near-miss events are specifically identified and using a structured framework (e.g. datix, root-cause analysis/AAR) to effectively monitor, review with appropriate actions taken and identified. Provide assurance to the Divisional Governance group, Divisional quality board through monthly reporting.
- Lead the professional cancer nursing contribution and compliance to the Trusts clinical governance framework, working with the Cancer management team and divisions with identifying specific risks and effectively monitored on the Risk Register and reviewed with appropriate actions taken.
- Liaise closely with other Head of/Lead Cancer Nurses within the West Midlands Cancer Alliance to implement policies, strategies, guidelines and initiatives related to national and regional cancer agenda.
- Lead the embedding of or implementation of projects aligned to the National Policy for Cancer Strategy, including the Person Centred Follow Up Pathway and the embedding of Personalised Care across cancer services.
- Act as a key link on nursing and AHP issues to the West Midlands Cancer Alliance, ICB’s, PCN's and other significant stakeholders in delivering cancer care.
- Collaborate with Lead cancer clinician & Cancer services manager to facilitate the Trust Cancer Steering Group and other senior forums, ensure cancer care maintains a high profile within the Trust.
- Ensure Divisional Directors of Nursing are kept informed of all national policy developments relating to the care of cancer patients.
- Work collaboratively with all major stakeholders i.e Macmillan, charities, WMCA, ICB, PCN’s to ensure the delivery of quality cancer services are in line with their values and priorities.
Management/ Leadership
- Working in collaboration with the Lead Cancer Clinician, Cancer Manager, and Clinical Nurse Specialists, MDT leads and care groups to ensure the implementation of action plans for continuous quality improvement.
- Managerially responsible for the Macmillan Cancer Support and Information Service Manager and personalised care facilitator providing strategic support and guidance to the service as a whole.
- Oversee the response to complaints and incidents and respond where appropriate to ensure robust systems are developed and implemented to inform and improve practice, providing written reports as required
- Ensure risks are identified and monitored and actions are taken relevant to cancer patients pathway and the cancer nursing workforce.
- To participate in annual PDR's in collaboration with CNS leads and matrons for cancer specialist nursing staff where appropriate.
- Work with the Director of Nursing to undertake workforce planning in relation to nursing within cancer services.
- Identify and develop business case opportunities as appropriate.
- Be a member of internal and external steering groups as appropriate.
Communication and Patient Involvement
- Actively contribute to and engage in the National Cancer patient experience survey (NCPES), collaborating with the Head of Patient Experience, working groups, quality assurance audits and patient representative groups. to ensure the views of patients are reflected in the delivery of cancer care.
- Develop and lead on the Trust's response to the National Cancer Patient Experience Survey, developing action plans and new ways of working.
- Lead the development of information for patients with cancer and their carers' in accordance with the Trust's information strategy.
- Collaborate with the Trust's Head of Communications to ensure that the information needs of cancer patients are identified and addressed.
- Support the development and implementation of a strategy to ensure that all staff has training and skills in communicating with cancer patients.
- In conjunction with Matrons, where appropriate to supervise and ensure a consistent
- approach to cancer nursing across all areas covered, through collaborative working and the development of shared procedures and guidelines, supervising the auditing of practice and development of action plans where required
- Work with community and volunteer providers to ensure that psychological support for all patients is at the forefront of all cancer care.
- Collect, collate and regularly report accurate data against the Personalised Care agenda to evaluate effectiveness and efficiency of the interventions and achieve best practice.
- Ensure active participation by teams in surveys, audit and research in support of service improvement.
- Promote and disseminate relevant best practice, research and audit findings to support clinical practice.
- Actively contribute to the design and implementation of effective patient care pathways and models of care to ensure safe and effective services and optimum use of all available resources.
- Requirement to apply for external financial grants and ensure best use of resource allocation.
Research and Education
- Work with the West Midlands Cancer Alliance and other key stakeholders to develop and implement an integrated programme of education in cancer care. Advise on and develop educational opportunities that would facilitate the multi-professional team skills and knowledge of clinical practice with reference to the ACCEND programme.
- Ensure professional development and education reflects and aligns to Nationally agreed Education and competency frameworks
- Encourage and facilitate evidence-based practice in the care of cancer patients ensuring that relevant information and examples of good practice are disseminated maintaining a skilled cancer nursing/AHP workforce.
- In collaboration with the Director of Nursing, Deputy Director of Nursing and Education and Workforce Lead, develop good relationships with local higher education establishments to promote the development of educational and research projects, especially in relation to cancer nursing.
- Teach formally and informally across WHT the Network and nationally including the organisation of network and national conferences.
- Create a research and professional development environment which promotes and encourages high quality clinical research activity thereby increasing the opportunity for patients to participate in, and benefit from, well designed research.
- Enable staff to maximise their clinical skills and support analytical thinking to increase the potential for research
- Develop the skills of generalist nurses and other health professionals, including medical workforce to develop their skills and knowledge to enable them to provide a high standard of care for patients within their specialty.
- Assist in the delivery of relevant education programmes for clinical and non-clinical staff and raise the awareness amongst healthcare staff of the educational needs of people affected by cancer. Initiatives such as Health and Well Being Programme and ongoing Living with and Beyond Cancer directives.
- Be aware and adhere to local trust policies and protocols.
- To act as a professional resource to colleagues.
- To participate in personal objective setting and review, including the creation of a personal development plan and the Trust’s appraisal process.
