Cancer Services Pathway Navigator

We require a patient focused Navigator who has excellent people skills, is able to communicate appropriately with both health care professionals and patients, is organised, proactive, and is passionate about improving outcomes for cancer patients. To support the specialty Cancer Team in Diagnostics and Pharmacy results. Improving cancer wait times and delivery. The navigator role will be involved from the beginning of the pathway at the suspicion of cancer. The post holder will support the patient from initial referral to the communication of Cancer Excluded, or where Cancer diagnosed, onwards to the First Definitive Treatment, along with providing support with Diagnostics and Pharmacy results. Improving cancer wait times and delivery. The post holder will be expected to work across a range of IT systems namely excel, PAS, SCR and CRIS, to coordinate booking of patient appointments. The post holder will work both directly and indirectly with both patients and their carers to assist in coordinating the care of patients through their hospital care journey, identifying, escalating and managing issues that patients may have with transport, lack of understanding about diagnostic investigations or preparations and to reduce the number of appointments that are missed by patients (both outpatient and diagnostic investigation). It will be part of the Navigators role to help improve both patient compliance and patient experience. Main duties of the job The post-holder will be expected to work with minimal supervision, and responsible for promptly escalating any concerns relating to the service as appropriate. Communicate inter-departmentally with all levels and disciplines of staff and external agencies including GPs and other NHS Trusts. The post-holder will also be expected to work hybrid with 3 days working onsite and 2 days working from home. This will be after their initial training programme has been completed. The Trust provides a range of services and employment opportunities for a diverse population. As a Trust employee the post-holder will be expected to treat all patients / customers and work colleagues with dignity and respect, irrespective of their background. Front line staff members are in an ideal position to offer support and advice on how to improve health and wellbeing. Staff should use their interactions with the public to give them additional advice on health and wellbeing.

Essential

• 5 GCSEs at Grade C or above including Maths and English or equivalent
• ECDL or equivalent demonstrable skills
• NVQ2 / 3 in Health or Social Care or equivalent experience
Desirable
• Basic Communication Skills Training ( Sage / Thyme)
Knowledge Essential
• Proven experience of working in a health care setting
• Experience of working as part of a team and in isolation
• Experience of managing priorities under pressure, to meet service needs and strict deadlines
Desirable
• Experience co-ordinating a patient workload
Skills Essential
• Computer literate with good knowledge and understanding of computer packages; Microsoft Office
• Knowledge and experience of using Pennine Acute Trust's IT systems; eg PAS, CRIS, SCR etc
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• Good organisational and administrative skills with ability to prioritize workload
• Ability to communicate at all levels and in difficult circumstances
• Ability to use own initiative
• Ability to work well under pressure and remain calm in difficult situations
• Ability to retrieve information from a wide range of sources and in different formats
Desirable
• Knowledge of relevant cancer treatments, interventions and terminology
Personal Qualities Essential
• Ability to work flexibly
• Sensitive nature and pleasant manner
• Ability to work with distressing information
• A commitment to quality and safety
• A commitment to collaborative working to create best outcomes
• Willingness to undertake further training / study as required
• Enthusiastic and hard working
  
  The Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust (NCA) provides hospital and integrated health and social care services to over one million people living across Greater Manchester. Our 20,000 colleagues care for people in hospital and in the community, working across Bury, Rochdale, Oldham and Salford, to save and improve lives.
As a large NHS trust we are committed to enhancing the health of our local population by delivering consistently high standards of care and working closely with local authorities and key partners. We believe in our power and potential to make a difference and we're always looking for people who demonstrate our three core values - care, appreciate and inspire - to join our team. In return, we can offer you a job role with purpose and flexibility. The size and scale of the NCA means we can provide more challenge and opportunities so your career can always be moving in the right direction. By joining us you can also access a competitive benefits package, including, a fantastic annual leave allowance, flexible working opportunities and protected hours for health and wellbeing activities, helping you to achieve more personal downtime and a better work-life balance.