Cancer Support Worker

Job overview

Macmillan Cancer Support & Information Support Worker will be based at The Lodge Cancer Support and Information Centre. This role will provide advice and support during each patient’s acute phase of treatment, from diagnosis to end of treatment, with the responsibility to refer on to our primary care and community services thereafter to deliver personalised care for all.

The post is patient, carer and public facing; much of the role will entail assessing holistic needs and care planning to provide direct information and support, or signposting to appropriate supportive services. Due to the drop-in nature of the service workloads can be variable and demanding, requiring the ability to prioritise and manage multiple tasks at times whilst being proactive in-service development at quieter times.

Main duties of the job

• To provide general, specific and specialist information and support about cancer and cancer services, to ensure patients are signposted at all times during their treatment and beyond.
• Provide information and support for people living with and beyond their cancer diagnosis.
• Provide information and support for people with non-complex care needs.
• To engage with the community services in line with the Peronalised Care Agenda to support patients accessing services from home.
• Recording patient information on the Trusts Systems and undertaking holistic needs assessments as and when required.
• Supporting the introduction of the delivery of prehabilitation to improve patients’ outcomes after Cancer.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• Provide sensitive support and guidance to individuals who contact The Lodge Cancer Support and Information Centre via multiple mediums i.e. face to face, telephone and MS teams.
• Communicate all information and advice using a range of advanced communication skills including use of reassurance, tact, and empathy.
• Assist in the triage of incoming phone calls and drop ins. This will include consideration of caller’s information and support needs, provision of verbal and written information, supportive listening, action planning and signposting to available services and support.
• Escalating complex decisions to the Manager or Cancer Support Team for assessment and review.
• Ensure that situations or enquiries requiring specialist intervention are referred appropriately and in a timely fashion.
• Demonstrate the ability to recognise and respond appropriately when faced with an individual in crisis and to act as appropriate, knowing when to signpost or refer onwards.
• Support information delivery to patients and carers on a wide range of matters, including financial and benefits advice, grant applications, emotional support, fatigue management, complementary therapies and supportive therapies.
• To facilitate wellbeing and relaxation sessions as delegated by, or alongside, The Lodge Manager i.e. HOPE course and other group sessions.
• Support the Lodge Manager in co-ordinating the day to day running of the information and support services.
• To support data collection to facilitate service improvements, quality and audit.
• To proactively identify patient and carer needs using the appropriate assessment and process to ensure that people get the right support to meet their needs. The role requires use of judgment in responding to the needs of individuals. The level of judgment required relates to identifying the complexity of the situation, providing appropriate advice and escalating to the Lodge Manager, CNS, clinical team, community team where appropriate.
• Organise and prioritise the designated workload in relation to identified needs.
• Implement, monitor and review the care plan with the patient and carer, in line with standard operating procedures and protocols. This will entail arranging follow-up calls at specific intervals, signposting to other services and ensuring the care plan is updated as appropriate.
• Organise appointments as required.
• Make pre-planned outbound calls to patients to assess on going needs to enable a proactive prevention approach and ensure Holistic Needs assessments and care plans are offered to all appropriate patients at set time points.
• Identify indicators of need or changes in need through telephone contact and respond appropriately.
• To signpost patients/carers directly to information resources to support people in making decisions about aspects of their own care, enable independence and support selfmanagement as appropriate.
• Support the delivery of patient and carer information around topics such as reducing the risk of cancer and living with cancer and beyond treatment.
• Encourage and support active and healthy lifestyle choices.
• Support patients and carers to understand what signs, symptoms or situations to be aware of that would indicate concern.
• Support and inform patients and carers to understand how to make contact when they feel that their condition or needs have changed, including what to do out of hours.

Additional elements for the role:

• Support and contribute to annual report and service review of this innovative new model of care and service provision.
• Demonstrate self-directed learning, actively seeking role development opportunities to enhance practice, knowledge and role progression.
• Identify personal education needs and skills development.
• Provide administrative support to The Lodge Manager as the service requires (during times of leave and sickness).
• Support the manager with day-to-day running of the Centre and support clinical teams when required i.e. by providing information, responding to queries and attending meetings.
• In the absence of The Lodge Manager work with volunteers, allocating work and supervising their day to day activities.
• Contribute to the continuous improvement and development of the service, identifying areas for change / improvement, suggesting new approaches and implementing changes in practice identified through other routes, such as surveys.
• Provide training to new or less experienced employees or volunteers in The Lodge or Cancer Support Team.

Communication:

Communicate effectively with patients and carers and with a wide range of clinical and nonclinical stakeholders in secondary and community settings. Communicate sensitively and compassionately in (potentially) high emotive situations with patients and carers, demonstrating tact, reassurance, empathy, understanding, diplomacy, honesty and integrity.

Ability to deal with complex and difficult situations and handle difficult questions.

De

• To signpost patients/carers directly to information resources to support people in making decisions about aspects of their own care, enable independence and support self-management as appropriate.

Applicant requirements

This post will require a submission for Disclosure to be made to check for any unspent criminal convictions.