Cancer Pathway Navigator

Job summary An exciting opportunity has arisen for a confident,enthusiastic, and motivated individual to work within the Cancer ServicesDepartment in close collaboration with primary care and third sectororganisations.
Your primaryresponsibilities will be to act as patient advocate to overcome barriers totimely access to any part of the patients cancer journey, minimising anydelays to diagnostics and treatment.
Youwill directly communicate with patients and their families to organiseappointments, advise on any concerns or queries and signpost the patient torelevant support.
The role plays a vital part in streamlining the patientjourney and contributes to the improvement of both quality and experience.
The post holder will be based at eitherDarlington Memorial Hospital or University Hospital of North Durham but may berequired to be based in the office on the alternative site on a regularbasis.
Our team is currently workingunder Agile working agreements, working a mix of on-site and remotely fromtheir home base and once fully trained the post holder will also adopt thisworking pattern.
Main duties of the job Thepost holder will work collaboratively across primary and secondary care andthird sector organisations with responsibility to provide an effective, caringand compassionate service to patients to optimise their access to cancerservices, through close working with multidisciplinary teams in primary andsecondary care.
They will be point of access to receive and act uponnotification of any new, suspicious or recurrent cancers identified at thediagnostic stage.
They will liaise withpatients and their relatives and ensure appropriate and timely appointments aresecured and any additional tests are organised prior to their imaging via theirGP or within the Trust.
They will ensureclose collaboration with Radiology to ensure imaging is booked, reports areavailable and staging is complete.
The post holder will actively participate inCancer Waiting Times validation and ensure patient tracking procedures arefollowed and kept up to date within the department.
They will be part of a teamwho have delegated supervisory responsibility for the Cancer Services teamwhich will include delivery of 1-1s, appraisals and annual leave management socover may be required for this.
About us If you are being interviewed you must accept an interview slot in the system to continue, even if you have arranged with the managerYou must be able to produce ALL certificates stated essential in the person specification or you will not be able to complete pre-employment checksWe provide hospital services from two acute sites - Darlington Memorial Hospital and University Hospital of North Durham.
We have a centre for planned care in Bishop Auckland and provide care from community hospitals in Chester-le-Street, Shotley Bridge, Barnard Castle, Sedgefield and Weardale as well as over 80 other community based settings and providing care in patients' homes.We particularly welcome applications from disabled and Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) candidates as BAME and disabled people are currently under-representedFrom April 1 2024 we are unable to offer sponsorship for healthcare roles that do not meet the minimum salary, If you are in the UK on a VISA please ensure you have no restrictions that would prevent you from taking this post.Full Job Descriptions can be found in the adverts supporting documents Job description Job responsibilities Our team ensures that patients are tracked through theirpathway, we monitor and escalate with core services such as Radiology,Pathology, Chemotherapy, Booking and Waiting List staff so excellentinterpersonal and communication skills will be vital.
The Cancer Pathway Navigator will work across Durham andDarlington with Radiology, Endoscopy, Cancer Pathway Coordinators and membersof multi-disciplinary teams in primary and secondary care and third sectororganisations, including working closely with the Cancer Services ImprovementManager.
It will be an essential component of the job to form close workingrelationships with the medical, nursing and allied health professionals fromall of the Trust cancer multidisciplinary teams across sites and within PrimaryCare.The Cancer Pathway Navigator will provide a point of contactto GPs and patients/carers advising and updating on patient pathway statuswith the specific aim of minimising any delays throughout each patientjourney.
Within the Trust, they are alsopoint of access to receive notification of new, suspicious or recurrent cancerswhich are identified following diagnostics and an essential element of the roleis to ensure the Cancer Pathway Coordinators and the relevant MDT are alertedand relevant appointments are secured.
A key aspect of the role is to liaise with the patient ortheir carer to provide detail of next appointments and arrange any necessarytests prior to imaging.
They will act aspatient advocate to enable timely access to cancer services, and will alsofollow up with the patient should they fail to attend.
In addition they will signpost patients torelevant support within primary and secondary care.
The Cancer Pathway Navigator will also havedelegated line management responsibility for the Cancer Pathway Coordinators,delivering 1-1s, Appraisals and management of annual leave.
They will work closely with them to ensurethe Cancer Wait Times targets are maintained and tracking procedures arefollowed and delays are escalated.
Theywill have delegated responsibility for Cancer Wait Time validation in readinessfor monthly deadlines and uploads.
Person Specification Experience Essential Previous administrative experience within the NHS Previous experience of data collection, validation and reporting Experience of supervising/managing staff Experience of training / coaching Desirable Previous experience of working in the NHS in a role relating to cancer patient pathway Special Requirements Essential Able to travel across Trust sites to meet the requirements of the post Ability to input data for significant periods of time using a VDU Ability to concentrate on tasks whilst managing frequent interruptions and making appropriate adjustments to priorities Ability to cope with exposure to details regarding patients that may be distressing Professional appearance and demeanour Positive attitude towards change Flexible and adaptable Qualifications Essential Diploma level qualification / foundation degree or equivalent experience Evidence of Continuous Professional Development Special Skills and Knowledge Essential Ability to communicate and influence a broad range of staff at all levels in the organisation with particular regard to cancer waiting times and prevention of breaches.
High level of communication skills when communicating with patients/relatives/carers Ability to take day to day responsibility for their own area of work, working autonomously for the majority of the time Ability to work effectively as a member of a team Knowledge of legislation surrounding patient and staff confidentiality and the sharing of information across organisations IT skills, Excel manipulate and analyse data using excel, Word, produce documents to a professional standard, Outlook, diary and email Knowledge of hospital based information systems Ability to solve problems and take appropriate action Ability to communicate and work with a wide range of professional and administrative staff Ability to identify trends in patient pathways that require improvement Ability to develop and implement policy and procedure guidance Understanding of service improvement and the application of this.
Desirable Knowledge of service improvement methodology including simple tools, techniques and measurement for improvement Knowledge of cancer patients pathways Knowledge of Cancer Waiting times targets Demonstrate awareness of policies and process relating to the improvement of services and outcomes.