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Corporate Responsibilities:

Working as part of the Colorectal Multidisciplinary Team, the post holder will be responsible for ensuring that all colorectal patients and their carers have access to expert information, advice and support from the point of diagnosis and throughout the illness experience.

In collaboration with the colorectal surgeons, Directorate Matron and Cancer Lead Nurse, the post holder will have responsibility for developing, delivering and evaluating an innovative, high-quality service for patients.

The post holder will liaise with other healthcare professionals across primary and secondary care to ensure a seamless service for patients and their carers.

Supporting Clinical Excellence:

Triage patients referred onto the suspected colorectal cancer pathway with support of senior colleagues, policies, and protocols.

To autonomously manage and undertake nurse led telephone triage clinics for patients with colorectal symptoms working within agreed protocols.

Comprehensively take patients’ clinical history and request further investigations as necessary working to agreed protocols. 

Provide explanation of implications of investigation results to patients and their carers. 

To assess individual requirements for information and take into account personal preference regarding investigation/treatment options.

Facilitate the management of colorectal patients attending the Trust, ensuring their pathway is timely, seamless and of a high quality.

 Supporting Patient Excellence

Demonstrate advance practice in planning, implementing and evaluating nursing care, documenting the outcomes of consultations in the clinical notes.

People/Management Excellence:

Promote collaborative working relationships and effective communication between all members of the cancer multidisciplinary team.

Professional Responsibilities:

Actively engage in the development of policies and clinical guidelines in collaboration with the Directorate Matron/Cancer Lead Nurse, which are necessary to support the developing colorectal specialist nursing service.

Influence decisions regarding service delivery through participation in local and network meetings.

 Quality Assurance and Monitoring:

Demonstrate continual evaluation of practice within Colorectal  Nursing, making agreed changes.

Identify areas of practice which may be expanded to ensure the best clinical outcomes for patients.

Establish and maintain links with the Colorectal Clinical Nurse Specialists across the trust.

Policy and Service Development Responsibilities:

Contribute to the management of the service.

Identify own personal development needs to work at advanced level and take appropriate action to ensure these needs are met.

Demonstrate knowledge of the clinical trials relevant to colorectal cancer.

Research and Development Responsibilities:

Collect activity data to demonstrate the effectiveness of the specialist nursing service.

Conduct audit and evaluation to monitor the effectiveness of the role and participate in local, network and national audit as required.

Initiate and be actively involved in nursing research.

Promote best practice ensuring care is evidence based.

General Responsibilities:

To implement and aid the continuing development of the dedicated Nurse Led Lower GI triage service in line with national directives. 

To undertake a clinical assessment of patient’s referred on the 2WW pathway using an agreed template within the guideline time frame. 

To book appropriate investigations ensuring the patients have been assessed as per clinic proforma

To counsel patients prior to the invasive investigation procedure, providing written information to meet the individual needs of patients/carers as needed.

To refer patients back to their GP if they do not meet the essential referral criteria 

To ensure those patients have a full understanding of the pathway and the necessity and urgency of any requested procedures. 

To develop written information for patients about the nurse led service, providing contact details for advice and support.

To develop local protocols to reflect the National Cancer Faster Diagnosis Standards to support the implementation of the nursing service.

To adhere to the NMC Code of Professional Conduct and other national regulations.

To undertake training to develop confidence and competence in ordering diagnostic tests, maintaining a portfolio of evidence to demonstrate extended practice. 

To work autonomously as a nurse specialist, recognising own limitations and when to seek advice from the clinical team. 

To act as a specialist resource for GP’s and other healthcare professionals relating to Lower GI cancer, providing expert nursing advice and support.

To promote collaborative working relationships and effective communication with the members of the Lower GI multidisciplinary team and with Primary Care.

To have expert knowledge of the Lower GI pathway, working to agreed protocols. 

Demonstrate an ability to work across organisational and professional boundaries.

To identity own personal development needs to work at an advanced level and take appropriate action to ensure that these are met.

To maintain a personal professional profile, demonstrating clear evidence for nursing revalidation.

To participate in the self-assessment against the national standards related to upper GI cancer, taking part in the NHS England Quality Surveillance Program.

To ensure the nurse led service is development in line with national directives related to Lower GI cancer.

To collect activity data to demonstrate the effectiveness of the specialist nursing service.

To assist in audit compliance against the National Lower GI Timed Pathway to determine compliance against the 28 day Faster Diagnosis Standard.

To actively seek feedback from patients/carers to inform service developments.

To work in collaboration with the Cancer Clinical Director to provide education and training to GP’s referring into the nurse led service.

To evaluate the effectiveness of the nurse led service, implementing change to enhance the patient/carer experience.

To identify areas of practice this may be expanded to promote optimal care and the best outcomes for patients.

To initiate and be actively involved in nursing research/audit.

Undertake independent face to face clinics as service needs.