Macmillan Cancer Support Worker

The main purpose of the inpatient Cancer Support Worker role is to work as an integral part of the Acute Oncology Nursing team within the Division of Medicine. North Bristol Trust and the wider community across Bristol has a comprehensive range of services for cancer patients helping them before, during and after treatment to promote and sustain recovery and manage any consequences of treatment. Our aim is for patients to be empowered and informed to take an active role in their recovery with a greater focus on self-management. They will work with colleagues from across a number of services both in the hospital and community, developing a multi-disciplinary, holistic approach is taken. The post holder will have excellent literacy and IT skills, Support the AO team in collating audits to support service development and patient safety. The post holder will have good communication skills in a multi
- professional environment, be an advocate for patients, and be able to negotiate with both patient and providers, to achieve best outcomes.

The post holder will be responsible and accountable for their own individual practices and behaviour under the management of a registered practitioner, will help the team to navigate complex health and social care systems and will provide information and support about cancer and cancer services The service will tailor care to best suit the individual patient and this includes: personalised information and advice; support to help identify things that could help them improve how they feel; help to access local services; help in identifying early changes in their condition that require intervention or attention, motivation for the patient to work towards and achieve goals.The remit will involve individual holistic assessment using approved tools and procedures, as well as the development and co-ordination of personalised care and support plans for cancer patients and their families. The post holder will be expected to provide emotional support and advice and to signpost patients to the appropriate services to best meet their needs during and following an inpatient admission..
Our NBT

Our vision at NBT is that by enabling our teams to be the best they can be we will provide Exceptional Healthcare, Personally Delivered. This means that our patients recognise that we are exemplars of safe, harm-free care and that we give them the best possible health improvement.

As a major acute teaching hospital and centre of excellence in a number of fields we will do this through the dedication of you, our outstanding 8000 staff, and through a genuine partnership with our patients, the public and local partners. By doing this we will, as OneNBT, provide a place you are proud to work and an outstanding patient and carer experience

**Responsibilities**:

- Knowledge of and be able to liaise and negotiate with, local service providers, regarding local service provision
- To understand the principles holistic needs assessments and development of personalised care plans based on patients’ needs
- As part of the Acute Oncology Team the post holder will maintain continuity of care as directed by the Acute oncology CNS to ensure patients receive easily understandable information and support whilst in hospital
- To provide emotional support for patients and their families and timely onward referral and signposting to services
- To provide personalised care and support, acting as the patient advocate; taking and receiving referrals; prioritising need and sign posting to appropriate services
- To have a sound knowledge of current health promotion initiatives, delivering both health promotion advice and monitoring progress, through motivational interviewing both opportunistically and through targeted intervention
- To respond appropriately in emergency situations
- To report any incidents that might compromise health and safety for self; other staff or clients/patients

Personal Responsibilities
- To be self-aware and demonstrate resilience in the face of challenging situations.
- To take part in annual appraisal, developing a personal development plan from which training needs will be identified and training undertaken.
- To understand the legal; ethical and regulatory principles of the NHS, and know personal boundaries and when to seek help
- To be able to undertake developmental training of other staff as required
- Actively engage with Macmillan Cancer Support to contribute expertise and experience

Working Conditions / Effort
- To manage the priorities of the role appropriately in order to adequately

support the varied needs of the service
- Some manual handling within the office environment may be required
- Due to the potentially distressing needs of cancer patients and their families this role requires some degree of psychological and emotional investment and mental effort
- Dealing with frequent interruptions throughout the day from telephone calls,

requests from the Cancer teams and other h