Paediatric Oncology Patient Navigator

The post holder will support the coordination of care for cancer patients through their cancer pathway. A key aspect of the role involves daily and direct (e.g. face to face and telephone) communication with patients, relatives, carers, and other health and social care professionals. The information and nature of the communication required is sensitive due to the nature of cancer. Communication in this context requires a high degree of empathy, understanding, diplomacy, honesty and integrity.
You will proactively identify patient and carer needs using knowledge, approved tools and procedures to ensure that people get the right support to meet their needs. You will coordinate access to the right information and education resources to support people in making decisions about aspects of their own care, enabling independence, and develop a partnership approach to working in order to empower the patient and carers.
The role also requires strong administrative and co-ordination skills as there is a requirement for the post holder to support in the collection of information and data for service KPIs, MDT meetings and other data needs for the service., Provide cover to the paediatric oncology call service and respond to patient queries in a professional and efficient manner. Follow the Standard Operating Policy for clinical issue escalations.
- Book and outcome cancer CNS appointments on PIMS in accordance with the agreed process
- Set up Electronic Health Needs Assessments (eHNAs) and contact checklist with patients, book and outcome appointments for completion of care plan with cancer CNS. This may involve telephone or face to face consultations with our patients depending on the setting
- Support patient events and real time survey capture
The Band 4 Paediatric Oncology Pathway Navigator demonstrates a level of skill and understanding which enables them to undertake specific tasks delegated by the team lead and in accordance with relevant procedures, guidelines and policies. They will undertake both routine and specially identified tasks for which they have been trained and assessed as competent., · Provide a point of contact for patients throughout their treatment
· Responsible for contacting and organising appointments, information and results
· Coordinate face to face appointments as per MDT instructions
· Comment on proposed changes to policies and procedures
· Support and contribute to audit processes, governance, research, clinical research trials and service development
· Report any protocol variance to MDT
· Support the planning / inviting / organising of informative events for patients
· Document and monitor all aspects of care coordination and service delivery, supporting data collection for audit
2. Care coordination and navigation of care and support
Under the guidance and supervision of a registered practitioner:
· Coordinate the follow up investigations required post cancer diagnosis or treatment
· Support the delivery of Cancer Waiting Times (CWT) through effective pathway monitoring
· Coordinate a rapid re-entry into the specialist cancer team review as per tumour group protocol
· Develop and maintain a good professional relationship with patients and with the specialist cancer teams
· Communicate appropriate needs related information
· Facilitate access to health and well-being services, and other support services
· Provide basic telephone advice and refer on or sign-post to other sources of support
· Be a single point of contact for patients, their carers and GPs / Primary Care for patients whilst they remain cancer patients at the Trust
3. Co-ordinate patient education and support
· Support patients and carers to access up-to-date and appropriate information, including sign posting to a range of support services
· Support the direction of the patient or carer to education or support areas. Encourage and support active and healthy lifestyle choices
· Support patients and carers to understand what signs, symptoms or situations to be aware of that would indicate concern
· Inform patients and carers on how to make contact when they feel that their condition or needs have changed, including what to do out of hours
· Support the delivery of patient and carer training and education
· Planning / inviting / organising of Health and Well-Being events or other supported self-management events
· To attend allocated Health & Well Being events, keeping comprehensive electronic records of attendance
· Encourage and support active and healthy lifestyle choices
· Coach patients and carers on how to make contact when they feel that their condition or needs have changed, including what to do out of hours
· An approach which helps people to self-manage where appropriate
4. Administrative and Service Development
· Provide administrative support to enable CNS' to have specialist time to be focused on patients. Support may include making referrals to other agencies or audits such as patient experience surveys etc.
· Support the preparation of relevant oncology MDT meetings where needs arise
· Collect and collate data for the service to manage and report on their key performance indicators (KPIs)
· Carry out administrative duties required by the role such as organising meetings, taking minutes, producing documentation and organizing supplies
· Offer suggestions for improvement of service
· Ensure that all daily tasks and on-going workloads are prioritized and completed within agreed timeframes
· Demonstrate insight into own professional development, contributing to the process of identifying own educational and training needs in conjunction with line manager.
· Attend and actively participate in team / group meetings as required
· Support and contribute to audit processes, governance, research, clinical research trials and service development
5. General Responsibilities
· Demonstrate self-directed learning, actively seeking role development opportunities to enhance practice, knowledge and role progression
· Identify personal education needs and skills development with the registered practitioner
· Carry out some administration duties required by the role including filing, report writing, documenting decisions made in the Trust cancer database
· Understand that there will be some distressing situations and when to seek appropriate support/advice
· Demonstrate an awareness of the limits of own practice and knowledge and when to seek appropriate support/advice
· Provide cover for the Paediatric Oncology Support Worker appropriate to the roles and responsibilities of this post
6. Personal Development
· Demonstrate insight into own professional development, contributing to the process of identifying own educational and training needs in conjunction with line management
· Demonstrate an awareness of the limits of own practice and knowledge and when to seek appropriate support/advice
· Demonstrate self-directed learning, actively seeking role development opportunities to enhance practice, knowledge and role progression
· Participate in the trust appraisal process
· Achieve the agreed competencies to fulfil the role within 6 months of being in post
· Ensure people affected by cancer are aware that they are interacting with a professional and know about the full range of resources and services available
· Understand that there will be frequent exposure to distressing situations and determine when to seek appropriate support/advice for themselves
You will have many additional opportunities, such as access to a range of free learning and development, free information resources, support from a range of subject experts, as well as access to our UK wide networks of cancer and palliative care specialists

King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is one of the UK's largest and busiest teaching Trusts with a turnover of c£1.7 billion, 1.5 million patient contacts a year and more than 15,000 staff based across 5 main sites in South East London. The Trust provides a full range of local hospital services across its different sites, and specialist services from King's College Hospital (KCH) sites at Denmark Hill in Camberwell and at the Princess Royal University Hospital (PRUH) site in the London Borough of Bromley., King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is one of the UK's largest and busiest teaching Trusts with a turnover of c£1 billion, 1.5 million patient contacts a year and more than 15,000 staff based across South East London. The Trust provides a full range of local and specialist services across its five sites. The trust-wide strategy of Strong Roots, Global Reach is our Vision to be BOLD, Brilliant people, Outstanding care, Leaders in Research, Innovation and Education, Diversity, Equality and Inclusion at the heart of everything we do. By being person-centred, digitally-enabled, and focused on sustainability, we aim to take Team King's to another level.
We are at a pivotal point in our history and we require individuals who are ready to join a highly professional team and make a real, lasting difference to our patients and our people.
King's is committed to delivering Sustainable Healthcare for All via our Green Plan. In line with national Greener NHS ambitions, we have set net zero carbon targets of 2040 for our NHS Carbon Footprint and 2045 for our NHS Carbon Footprint Plus. Everyone's contribution is required in order to meet the goals set out in our Green Plan and we encourage all staff to work responsibly, minimising their contributions to the Trust's carbon emissions, waste and pollution wherever possible., + Please review the documentation on our recruitment microsite, particularly the Trust's criminal records checking policy
+ All staff have a responsibility for safeguarding children and vulnerable adults and for ensuring they are aware of the specific duties relating to their role.
+ Please note that the closing date is given as a guide. On occasion, we might close a vacancy early due to a high number of applications being received. You are advised to submit your application as early as possible to avoid disappointment.
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