Brain Pathway / Acute Oncology Cancer Support Worker

The post holder will be an integral part of the Acute Oncology Team, assisting in supporting and co-ordinating the Brain Pathway within LUHFT. A large part of the role is providing administrative and coordination support to patients, families, consultants, cancer nurse specialists and other staff involved in the cancer pathway. The successful applicant will ensure the efficient co-ordination of the patient pathway ensuring robust communication between medical staff, GPs, patients, relatives, members of the public and other disciplines within the Trust, close liaison with the community staff and oncology teams. In addition, the post holder will be able to signpost patients and carers to the relevant sources of support and information appropriate to their needs, having face to face contact with patients and relatives., Help to facilitate early action as initial keyworkers for the patient until a diagnosis/definitive management plan is established, and / or care is transferred to the appropriate team.

Receive patient referrals from ED/AMU

Keep the patient updated with clinical information about their management plan remaining a point of contact for the patient.

Coordinate their care along the pathway utilising Orion system & upgrade cancer pathway via Somerset Cancer Registry.

Provide advice and guidance to the managing ward team on the Optimised Brain Pathway

Refer to and liaise with the Walton Centre, parent team, the relevant site-specific team, the patient's GP and community services as required.

Provide remote follow up, while awaiting SMDT

Provide verbal and written information to the patient and carer on initial management of symptoms, and the SMDT process.

Provide support until the patient is formally discharged to the Walton Centre, or site- specific team, via telephone assessment.

Provide face to face assessment in the ambulatory care facility AEC (Aintree) SDEC (Royal) with AO CNS

Undertake holistic assessment of patients concerns and create a personalised plan of care., AO Cancer Support Worker will support the CNS team in the navigation of patients through the diagnostic phase of pathway, ensuring appropriate recording of clinical data within Trust systems such as PENS and Somerset Cancer Registry. They will collect relevant data to ensure project KPI's are met including patient and carer experience surveys.

• Help to facilitate early action as initial keyworkers for the patient until a diagnosis/definitive management plan is established, and / or care is transferred to the appropriate team.


• Receive patient referrals from ED/AMU and will undertake a face-to-face assessment of the patient.


• Keep the patient updated with clinical information about their condition and management plan


• Coordinate their care along the pathway utilising Orion system.


• Be a point of contact for them and their family should they have any questions or


• Ensure upgrade to a cancer pathway via Somerset Cancer Registry (SCR)


• Provide advice and guidance to the managing ward team on the Optimised brain


• Refer to and liaise with the Walton Centre, parent team, the relevant site-specific team, the patient's GP and community services as required.


• Provide follow up telephone support and safety netting advice for the patients allowed home pending management plan.


• Support the parent team in communicating diagnosis/definitive management plan to the


• Support discharge planning where appropriate


• Provide remote follow up, while awaiting SMDT


• Provide verbal and written information to the patient and carer on initial management of symptoms, and the SMDT process


• Provide support until the patient is formally discharged to the Walton Centre, or site- specific team, via telephone assessment.


• Provide face to face assessment in the ambulatory care facility AEC (Aintree) SDEC (Royal)


• Undertake holistic assessment of patients concerns and create a personalised plan of


• Ensure a seamless handover of care to the appropriate keyworker whether this is the Walton Centre CNS, site specific CNS, community nursing team or the patients GP at agreed stage in pathway, Including referral to Non - Site Specific Team (NSRDS) for patients with metastatic disease of malignancy unknown origin., The Trust is committed to promoting a healthy work-life balance and achieve fair, equitable and consistent practice. We welcome flexible working requests and will consider a variety of flexible working arrangements from day one of your employment. Not all roles are suitable for every flexible working opportunity all of the time. Flexible working options may include reduced hours, compressed hours, fixed shifts, time back in lieu and home working.


The Trust is committed to promoting equality and diversity; we value the contribution of individual talent, skills, knowledge and experience and aim for a workforce demography representative of the local community. We encourage applicants from the following groups that are currently under-represented in our workforce black, Asian and minority ethnic, lesbian, gay, bisexual and Transgender (LGBTQ+), disabled, male and age 16-24.

Trust policy requires that the cost of submitting & processing the successful applicant/s DBS application be recovered via salary deduction following start in post. The amount of £18+£5 (standard disclosure) or £38+£5 (enhanced disclosure) will be deducted from salary, in manageable monthly instalments for up to 3 months following commencement of employment. Bank posts require upfront payment.

From April 2017, Skilled visa applicants and their adult dependant(s) will be required to provide a criminal record certificate from each country they have lived in consecutively for 12 months or more in the past ten years.

Applicants requiring sponsorship may wish to determine the likelihood of obtaining sponsorship for this position by assessing themselves against the criteria on the gov.uk website - https://www.gov.uk/check-uk-visa.

This organisation has a zero-tolerance approach to the abuse of children, young people and vulnerable adults. All staff must ensure they adhere to the organisations safeguarding children and adults' policy and comply with the Local Safeguarding Children and Adult Board procedures.

Staff should be mindful of their responsibility to safeguard children and adults in any activity performed on behalf of the organisation in line with the requirements of statutory guidance and legislation.

All employees (and volunteers)are expected maintain their safeguarding knowledge and skills by completing mandatory safeguarding training which includes understanding and recognising the signs of abuse and neglect and taking appropriate action.

As an organisation, we have adopted the Merseyside Domestic abuse workplace scheme which supports our staff who are experiencing Domestic Abuse /any forms of sexual violence.

The role will be critical in the patient experience of their cancer journey, along with making supporting achievement of the 28 and 62 day cancer standards. It is expected that the post holder will be able to work autonomously, using their own initiative and within a specialised team. The post holder is expected to be familiar the healthcare context, with knowledge and evidence of medical terminology, and educated to a level required to perform the role (Level 3 Health and Social Care qualification) or equivalent experience.,
• Good General Education with GCSE English and Mathematics Grade C or above


• ECDL or equivalent experience


• Level 3 Health or social care qualification (eg. NVQ or similar)


Desirable criteria


• Level 4 Health or social care qualification (eg. foundation degree)


• Evidence of continued role development


• Basic counselling or equivalent, Relevant Health or Social Care experience


• Efficient in the use of Microsoft Word for Windows, Excel, Power Point, Outlook and internet.


Desirable criteria


• Previous medical secretarial or administrative experience, Advanced knowledge of medical terminology


• Understanding of person-centred care.


Desirable criteria


• Awareness of Improving Outcomes; A Strategy for Cancer and other national cancer policies


• Knowledge of relevant cancer treatments, interventions and terminology.


• Awareness of the individual needs of people affected by cancer, Efficient in the use of Microsoft Word for Windows, Excel, Power Point, Outlook and internet


• Good documentation and written skills


• Able to effectively provide, receive and communicate complex or sensitive information, requiring tact and empathy.


• Able to prioritise work and work of others


• Possess excellent communication skills.


• Effective organisation skills.


• Ability to communicate both verbally and non-verbally on a daily basis with people at all levels.


• Good observational skills


• Practical problems solving skills


• Ability to work flexibly dependant on the needs of the service


• Ability to retrieve information from a wide range of sources and in different formats.


• Empathic and caring nature, able to be sensitive to the needs of patients and their carers
  
  Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust was created on 1 October 2019 following the merger of two adult acute Trusts, Aintree University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and the Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust.


The merger provides an opportunity to reconfigure services in a way that provides the best healthcare services to the city and improves the quality of care and health outcomes that patients experience.

The Trust runs Aintree University Hospital, Broadgreen Hospital, Liverpool University Dental Hospital and the Royal Liverpool University Hospital.

It serves a core population of around 630,000 people across Merseyside as well as providing a range of highly specialist services to a catchment area of more than two million people in the North West region and beyond., 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.