Band 7 Skin Oncology Clinical Nurse Specialist

Job summary

An exciting opportunity has arisen to join the Skin Cancer CNS team.

As the regional centre for skin cancer, we provide support to patients from across the Midlands who have been diagnosed with a skin cancer, including melanoma, non-mealnoma and rare skin cancers.

The CNS role involves providing support and information to patients; ensuring they are kept informed of changes and are seen at appropriate points in their pathway. It involves liaison with the patient, family members, and with a variety of care providers. The weekly multi-disciplinary meeting is an opportunity to put forward the patient's voice as well as an excellent learning environment.

The role is varied, demanding, yet satisfying. The ideal candidate would already be working at Band 6 or above, have relevant experience of working with skin cancer patients and be able to work autonomously and collaboratively with the multidisciplinary team to deliver high-quality, evidence-based care, ensuring patients receive timely assessment, treatment, education and ongoing support throughout their cancer journey.

Main duties of the job

The role encompasses caring for patients throughout their skin cancer journey and will include supporting them through diagnosis, primary treatment, recurrence/metastatic disease and palliative treatment. The post holder will work closely with the Dermatology, Plastic Surgery and Oncology teams to provide a seamless pathway for the patient across the services.

The post holder will provide expert, autonomous specialist care to patients with complex needs. This will include holistic needs assessments, symptom management advice, supporting patients and families through uncertainty, and coordinating care across the multidisciplinary team, external trusts and community services.

The role requires excellent interpersonal and communication skills, and the ability to discuss highly sensitive matters with patients and relatives to provide a high quality of care.

The post holder is responsible for contributing / leading the on-going development of clinical practice, standards of care within the service including the development of policies, procedures, protocols and guidelines. They will undertake service developments in collaboration with multidisciplinary colleagues.

About us

University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust strives to have an inclusive culture where everyone feels like they belong, can thrive, knows that they add value and feels valued. We do this by developing compassionate and culturally competent leaders, being values driven in all that we do and by creating a welcoming and inclusive workplace that thrives on the diversity of our people. As such we want to attract and recruit talented individuals from all backgrounds, and for each of you to feel supported for the diversity you bring, to achieve your full potential. For those staff with a disability, including physical disability, long term health condition, mental health or neurodiverse condition, this also means being committed to making reasonable adjustments needed for you to carry out your role.