Clinical Nurse Specialist

Job Summary Looking for a challenging but rewarding field with the Macmillan Nursing Team? Our Upper GI Macmillan Nurses have a Band 7 vacancy, providing care for those patients with suspected or confirmed hepatobiliary and pancreatic cancers. We are a small team passionate about standards of care and will offer you support and training for this role, including access to additional courses through Macmillan. Main Duties Provide expert nursing care, support and advice to patients with suspected or confirmed hepatobiliary and pancreatic cancers, and their families. Act as the main point of contact for patients and carers, ensuring they have access to expert information, advice and support from the point of cancer suspicion. Serve as a core member of the Upper GI Cancer Multidisciplinary Team, overseeing complex patient pathways across primary, secondary and tertiary care and supporting patients and carers from diagnosis through treatment and ongoing care. Implement key elements of personalised care, ensuring patients are offered HNA/care planning at key stages, and support the delivery of End‑of‑Treatment Summaries after each treatment episode. Work as part of the Upper GI CNS team, providing cover to ensure continuity of care across the Macmillan Upper GI CNS service. Provide specialist support for patients and their families, ensuring physical, psychological, social, emotional and spiritual needs are identified and met. Demonstrate advanced practice in planning, implementing and evaluating nursing care, documenting outcomes in hospital notes and/or on the Somerset database. Attend the weekly cancer multidisciplinary team meeting, contributing to discussion and providing expert nursing opinion. Coordinate patient pathways, ensuring a named point of contact within the Upper GI nursing team. Lead complex communication issues and provide evidence‑based clinical leadership within the speciality. Support the development of patient‑focused education, including personalised support and advice to cope with the ongoing consequences of the diagnosis. Implement all elements of personalised care and support across the HPB cancer pathway, including comprehensive holistic assessment (HNA) and written care plans. Support the generation of an End‑of‑Treatment Summary for patients following each treatment modality. Provide Level 2 psychological support for patients and their carers, signposting to additional sources of support as needed. Refer patients with complex psychological needs to the Macmillan Clinical Psychologist. Identify and meet patient/carer specialist information needs using the local Macmillan Information Centre. Lead the development of specialist Health & Wellbeing events for patients living with HPB cancer. Identify and address palliative care needs, referring patients with complex needs to the Specialist Palliative Care Team. Use advanced communication skills to support patients in the development of an Advance Care Plan. Oversee proactive telephone support for patients in the palliative stage, supporting team members to identify new or progressive symptoms. Review inpatients admitted with complications related to disease or treatment, influencing management options and liaising with professionals to ensure safe discharge. Identify AMBER patients and work with the multidisciplinary team to agree ceiling of intervention. Be actively involved in self‑assessment of the service against National Quality Standards related to UGI HPB cancer, taking an active part in the NHS England Quality Surveillance Programme. Ensure the specialist nursing service is developed in line with National Directives related to cancer care, contributing to policies and clinical guidelines. Initiate and be actively involved in service evaluation and audit, gathering feedback from patient surveys and reviewing service activity data to drive innovation and improvement. Participate in service reviews, completing a SWAT analysis to highlight effectiveness and challenges, and contributing to solutions. Contribute to decisions regarding regional service delivery through participation in local, regional and national meetings. Support the development of all team members, contributing to appraisal processes and objective setting. Engage in the formal annual appraisal process and plan future professional development and competencies. Actively engage with learning and development opportunities offered by Macmillan. Adhere to the NMC Code of Professional Conduct and other national regulations. Maintain a personal professional profile, demonstrating clear evidence for nursing revalidation. Person Specification Essential Education, Training and Qualifications RN Level 1 Relevant Master's Degree or equivalent level of education, training or experience. Fundamentals of Cancer Care module postgraduate level or equivalent training. Trained to provide Level 2 Psychological Support. Advanced communication skills training or equivalent. Rosalind Franklin Leadership programme or equivalent training. Registered independent nurse prescriber or willingness to undertake. Essential Knowledge and Experience In‑depth knowledge and experience in caring for patients living with Upper GI/HPB cancer. In‑depth knowledge and experience in implementing personalised care domains. Experience of multi‑professional working. Leadership and management experience. Knowledge of the National Frameworks related to cancer care. Experience of leading research or audit. Understanding of Macmillan Cancer Support and its role across the UK. Desirable Experience Previous experience of working as a Clinical Nurse Specialist. Essential Skills Excellent communication skills. Advanced assessment skills. Ability to work autonomously and as part of a multidisciplinary team. Effective organisation and time‑management skills. Ability to exercise initiative and implement change. Problem‑solving skills. Effective negotiation and interpersonal skills. Analytical and IT skills. Ability to develop policies, protocols and guidelines. Desirable Skills Effective report‑writing skills. Essential Key Competencies / Personal Qualities and Attributes Passionate and committed to bringing our Dedicated to Excellence values to life, improving the way we work with each other with a focus on empowerment, equality, diversity and inclusion of staff, patients and service users. Diplomatic, calm and objective. Assertive and confident, yet approachable. Innovative, flexible, enthusiastic and motivated. Additional Information Disclosure and Barring Service Check: This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and requires a DSBS check. Certificate of Sponsorship: Applications requiring a skilled worker visa will be considered. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website. UK Registration: Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information see NHS Careers website. Employer Details Northampton General Hospital Cliftonville Road, Northampton, NN1 5BD Website: https://www.northamptongeneral.nhs.uk/Home.aspx Seniority level Mid‑Senior level Employment type Full‑time Job function Health Care Provider Industries Hospitals #J-18808-Ljbffr