Senior Acute Oncology Nurse

at  Kings College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

The post holder will demonstrate a high level of expertise within the specialist service providing advice, education and support to staff, patients, their families and carers.
The post holder will be practising autonomously as an advanced clinical practitioner within Acute Oncology Service (AOS) to provide patient-centred clinical care. This will encompass the skills of advanced clinical assessment, history taking, assessment, examination, synthesise information gathered and use clinical reasoning to diagnose and formulate a shared management/personalised care/support plan within an agreed scope of practice throughout the directorate.
The post holder will ensure that patients presenting with metastatic malignancy of unknown origin (MUO) have access to rapid expert oncology input to avoid unnecessary, inappropriate investigations; are discussed in an MUO MDT; and receive rapid treatment for their disease and/or symptom control decisions.
The post holder will be expected to monitor the impact of the Acute Oncology Service, using a number of key metrics including length of stay; and work with the Lead Acute Oncology Clinician to ensure the Acute Oncology Service meets the Quality Standards and South East London Cancer Alliance SELCA guidance/safety measures. This will be of a demonstrably high standard; and will influence patient care through expert clinical practice, management, leadership, education research, audit and professional activities.
Provide early input into coordination of care, ensuring patients access right care at the right time and deliver high quality AOS specialist care:
Support the provision of the telephone triage advice for patients and health professionals with complications of their systemic anti-cancer treatment and provide high quality advice to support self-care or prevent serious consequences by directing care (early recognition, better access to treatment, early discharge)
Continually review and audit pathways of care
Work as part of the ambulatory clinic for all patients requiring review post ED attendance
Review patients as a part of the oncology daily ward round and ensure delivery of the appropriate care plan
Act as a resource for colleagues within the Trust and those from other hospital Trusts
AO service will offer direct access for community colleagues, providing advice on investigation and treatment pathways for new and suspected cancer diagnosis.
The post holder will support new ways of working that emphasises a more efficient and patient focused service, and will ensure the safe treatment, referral and discharge of patients with undifferentiated and undiagnosed presentations in their area.
The post holder will deliver 80% clinical component to their role and 20% related to appraisal, clinical audit, teaching, continuous professional development and research.
King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is one of the UK’s largest and busiest teaching Trusts with a turnover of £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.
Clinical
Work autonomously as an advanced practitioner within acute oncology
Direct responsibility for assessment, examination, investigation and diagnosis of patients within their area of work.
Appropriately treat patients, resulting in the safe management and appropriate referral or discharge of patients with undifferentiated and undiagnosed presentations.
Receive referrals via a variety of sources, including direct patient referral.
Participate in multidisciplinary clinics, participate in ward rounds, patient reviews and multidisciplinary team meetings
Work within and across multi-professional teams
Undertake a variety of clinical skills and provide treatment/ advice as per the acute oncology guidelines and scope of practice.
Utilise scope of practice to undertake Non-Medical Prescribing role and provide advice on medicine management issues associated with the patient specialty group.
Utilise advanced knowledge and skills relating to the speciality to provide specialist advice to other members of the multidisciplinary team on the basis of patient assessment.
Lead in the development and updating of referral guidelines and policies for the service.
Use highly developed communication skills to effectively communicate with colleagues, patients and their relatives/carers
Establish and maintain effective communication to ensure collaborative working with other professionals and agencies
Use professional judgement to act as an advocate for patients
Manage and escalate medical emergencies appropriately.
Identify and act appropriately on red flags.
Manage medical complexity.
Complete episodes of care which may include referral for further assessment, treatment and care appropriately.
Work towards safe and timely discharge and/ or transfer of care of patients from or between hospitals and services
Report and raise concerns related to Safeguarding, accessing advice and support as required. Be conversant with Trust policies
Ensure effective and accurate verbal or written handover of patients between healthcare professionals
Ensure that high standards of all documentation are maintained, with accurate, complete and up-to-date information regarding patient care are kept in accordance with Trust standards.
Monitor the quality and standard of care provided by all members of the team and all staff in clinical areas. Identifying any skills or training gaps and escalating to the appropriate Senior Nurse or Matron.
Undertake training to develop further advanced clinical practice roles required by the service in order to provide a high standard of patient care.
Practice within the scope of professional registration (i.e. NMC, HCPC

Please refer the Job description for details