Skin Cancer Clinical Nurse Specialist

Job Summary
NHS Band 7 Salary: £49,387 - £56,515 per annum
Hours Per Week: 37.5 full time
Contract Type: Permanent
Location Base: St Mary's Hospital, Parkhurst Road, Newport, Isle of Wight, PO30 5TG

The Band 7 Skin Cancer Clinical Nurse Specialist is a highly rewarding role at the heart of the patient cancer journey. As the key worker for patients and families across the Isle of Wight and Portsmouth, you will provide expert clinical support, coordinate care across multiple services, and ensure patients receive compassionate, seamless care from diagnosis through treatment and beyond. Working as a core member of the Skin Cancer MDT, you'll combine advanced clinical practice with leadership, service development, education and research.

This is an opportunity to join a collaborative and ambitious cancer service where specialist nurses are valued as leaders and innovators. You'll work closely with consultants, oncology teams and regional cancer centres, helping shape and improve skin cancer services while making a genuine difference to patient outcomes and experiences every day.

Main Duties of the Job
Job Purpose:

• The post holder will be the identified joint lead in the development of nursing practice in their own specialist area, working at an advanced level across the healthcare teams, also as a core member of the Skin Cancer multi-disciplinary team (MDT).
• The post holder will be the identified key worker for patients with skin cancer and their families on the IOW and will co-ordinate island patients care throughout their cancer pathway. The post holder will also act as a resource for all health care professionals caring for patients with Skin Cancer, and work in close collaboration with other cancer specialist nurses in mainland cancer centres, especially Portsmouth Hospital University Trust (PHU).
• The post-holder will work across departmental, directorate and trust boundaries to support the delivery of a seamless patient-centred service.
• The post-holder will provide a comprehensive quality service that demonstrates highly specialised clinical knowledge and expertise for the management of patients with Skin Cancer and their carers/family. Making contact with patients from the time of initial diagnosis to provide holistic practical, psychological and emotional support.

About Us
The Isle of Wight NHS Trust serves a population of approximately 150,000 residents, making the services we offer variable and personalised with a flexible approach to our service users.

Working for our Trust brings a variety of benefits, including an on-site day nursery, cycle-to-work scheme, discounts at local businesses and gyms, and the opportunity to hire the Trust's beach hut in Ryde. We offer many flexible working opportunities, speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement for you and if it works for the service, we will do our best to make it work for you.

The isle of Wight is a unique and stunning gem of the south coast off England, a short ferry journey from Portsmouth and Southampton, with journey times taking from as little as 10 minutes. London can be reached in 90 minutes by rail from Southampton or Portsmouth. The Island offers an amazing coastline with beautiful countryside, year-round events, festivals and award-winning attractions.

Our 2024-2029 'Working Together, Improving Together' strategy sets out our objectives for the next 5 years, setting the framework for our collaboration to deliver our vision of working together to deliver excellence in care for our patients and communities.

Job Responsibilities
Key Responsibilities

• Promote and set high standards of professional nursing care and maintain the delivery of quality care within the trust policies, protocols and guidelines. Implement the trust values and beliefs ensuring they are embedded into everyday practice and evaluate their impact on the patients experience.
• Demonstrate at an advanced level, communication skills which provide appropriate support, relevant information and education to facilitate decision-making on all treatment options for patients and their family/carers.
• Discuss with patients and their family/carers, the treatments for their individual care pathway, to assist in the knowledge and understanding of often complex, treatments and the effects that they may have on their quality of life, physical, psychological, social and spiritual wellbeing including also body image and sexuality, offering specialist emotional, psychological, psychosexual, practical advice and support throughout their treatment.
• To communicate distressing and sensitive information with patients and their family/carers regarding diagnosis, prognosis, treatment options and outcomes of illness, including future care, quality of life, life expectancy, terminal illness and bereavement.
• Ensure concerns raised by patients and their families are dealt with in an open, honest and transparent way, quickly and effectively, in line with trust policies, procedures and Duty of Candour legislation.
• Liaise across primary health care providers and with other statutory and voluntary agencies as required.
• Promote the health and safety of patients, staff and the public, identifying risks/hazards and implementing control measures. Contribute effectively and inform the operational management of the team whilst advocating patient focused services.
• Maintain comprehensive accurate patient records and ensure all relevant information is documented in the patients' medical and nursing notes according to cancer standards identifying key worker, principal clinician and relevant letters or communications explaining treatment options, including working closely with oncology clinic coordinator on IOW.
• Responsible for the organisation and management of the service alongside the lead consultant.
• Provide clinical expertise and leadership to relevant staff within and outside PHUT, in order to inform service provision and development.
• Demonstrate awareness of national and local guidelines relating to specialty (e.g. NICE guidelines) and influence care developments in accordance with these.
• Identify, contribute to or lead on aspects in the development and dissemination of evidence-based guidelines, standards and protocols as required and implement change to improve the quality of nursing care.
• Contribute to trust peer reviews and any focused CQC style reviews.
• Actively contribute to achieving the clinical governance goals/targets set by the trust and department and comply with reporting schedules for monitoring and reporting on clinical outcomes. Includes auditing of services.
• Implement the Nursing Strategy by setting clear achievable objectives into any staffs annual performance and development reviews and evaluate performance (where applicable).
• Be proactive in the prevention and management of complaints (formal and those via Patient Advice and Liaison Service) and when they occur investigate and respond in a timely manner. Use any learning to share widely with the multidisciplinary team and to improve care delivery.
• Promote effective communication with staff members across organisational boundaries and provide support to those dealing with patients who are either newly diagnosed or in late stages of their illness.
• Promote the health and well-being of MDT, patients and their carers. Making every contact count.
• Comply and promote compliance with Trust policies and guidelines e.g. Health and Safety, Clinical Risk and Infection Control.
• Maintain and continuously improve specialist knowledge in an aspect of Health Service which significantly contributes to the Trusts stated objectives and aims.
• Provide specialist advice, guidance, information and high quality effective decision-making within the departments and across primary and secondary care. Demonstrating expert clinical leadership within the speciality and visible, accessible authoritative presence in clinical areas.
• Ensure own professional development, participating in performance review and producing annual personal development plan.

For full job details please refer to enclosed job description.

Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential

• Current RN registration with the NMC and any other relevant post registration qualifications.
• BSc Degree in relevant field.

Desirable

• Masters' degree and evidence of working towards
• Successful completion of the Non-Medical Prescribing (V300) course, or a demonstrated willingness to work towards and achieve this qualification.
• Significant demonstrable experience within specialty with evidence of professional development.
• Post Reg. qualifications for specialist area.
• Leadership development programme.
• Teaching qualification /experience with an accredited NMC mentorship course.
• Evidence of change management with relevant management/leadership course.
• Evidence of developing policy, guidelines and managing resources.
• Counselling and research awareness.
• Clinical supervision where applicable monthly attendance.

Experience
Essential

• At least 5 years post registration experience, preferably in a Oncology setting.

Desirable

• Experience as a band 6, in an Oncology Setting.

Skills and Knowledge
Essential

• Clinically competent.
• Clinical decision-making skills
• Advanced Communication Skills Training
• Effective leadership skills
• Organisational skills and forward planning
• Flexibility
• Able to support development of others
• Coaching and mentoring skills
• Critical appraisal skills
• Strong customer service skills.
• IT literate
• Understanding of the principles and application of effective budgetary management
• Understanding of the principles and application of effective staff / HR management
• Understanding of the theory and application of Clinical Governance.
• Demonstrable experience of effective management and supervision of staff and taking charge of ward /unit .

Disclosure and Barring Service Check: This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

UK Registration: Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).