Band 7 - Breast Clinical Nurse Specialist - Whittington

Whittington NHS Trust, with their outstanding reputation in safe, personal, coordinated care for their local community, is seeking a Band 7 Breast Clinical Nurse Specialist to join their highly skilled team. Known for being one of the safest hospitals in England, Whittington Health provides expert care for more than 500,000 local people and is valued by its local community. Alongside the main Whittington Hospital, they have 30 community locations in the north London boroughs of Islington and Haringey.

The Breast Clinical Nurse Specialist provides expert advice and support to patients with breast cancer and their families, guiding them from diagnosis through all stages of treatment and follow-up care. This role involves managing a personal caseload, coordinating care, and ensuring effective communication with all professionals involved in the patient’s journey. The post holder will play a crucial role in delivering specialist knowledge and education to staff and patients and facilitate a seamless patient pathway. Additionally, the candidate will develop and monitor care standards in accordance with national guidelines and act as a key worker, ensuring patients have access to vital information and support. Responsibilities also include the collection and entry of national data requirements, contributing to local and national audits.

Main Duties and Responsibilities

• To communicate and work in partnership with all members of the MDTs to ensure a seamless pathway of care for patients from diagnosis through treatment and follow up care.
• To be an autonomous practitioner and manage own caseload and work with colleagues to provide the highest possible standards of care for patients diagnosed with Breast cancer.
• To support and co-ordinate patient’s / family / carer from diagnosis onwards through all stages of their disease and treatment modalities and utilise excellent communication skills to complete appropriate onward referrals for your cohort of patients.
• To act as point of contact and offer to be the Breast keyworker for patients and their families and carer.
• Ensure the Macmillan Holistic Needs Assessments and Care Plans are completed for all patients at key points of their cancer treatment pathway.
• You will be required to liaise with and ensure referral and appropriate signposting onto allied health professionals and services as required.
• To provide and offer a wide range of information and support to patients their family and/or carers at all stages of their cancer journey this includes access and utilisation of Information, Prescriptions, and signposting to the Whittington Health Macmillan Information space.
• To competently act as the patients' advocate and assist patients in understanding their disease and treatments available to them, to enable them to make informed choices about their care.
• Assist in the co-ordination of patient treatment pathways between the various departments in both primary and secondary care to facilitate continuity of care.
• To attend the relevant Breast outpatient clinics. These include: One stop clinic and those where patients are given a cancer diagnosis.
• To be a core member of the Breast MDT and attend the palliative care and site‑specific MDTs where Breast patients are being discussed and as deemed appropriate.
• To establish links and develop networking opportunities with Breast CNSs at other Trusts.
• To support and assess all Breast cancer in‑patients and liaise with ward staff and Consultants as deemed appropriate and provide a seamless approach to communication to enhance the patient’s pathway and experience.
• To ensure that patients are referred onto other health care professionals and services to ensure a seamless, high‑quality pathway of care for them, their families, and carers.
• To establish and maintain close working relationships with the Hospital and relevant Community Macmillan Palliative care teams.
• To be responsible in ensuring accurate and comprehensive documentation in all patients’ notes which include the trusts EPR and Somerset Cancer database system.
• To work as part of the MDT’s core member and actively participate in the National Cancer Peer review process.
• To regularly attend the Cancer Clinical Nurse Specialist Forum and participate in the agreed projects/work streams as agreed by the group.
• To provide CNS cover for cancer/Breast CNS colleagues during leave and absence.
• To be competent in managing your own timetable and caseload. This includes managing any nurse‑led clinics with minimal supervision from the Breast consultants.
• To ensure that robust Breast care patient tracking is completed in partnership with the MDT Coordinator.
• To possess exemplary time management skills.

Requirements

• First level RGN registration
• Teaching qualification or extensive experience (e.g., ENB 998)
• Educated to degree level or currently pursuing a degree
• Relevant post‑registration qualification in Breast care, oncology, or palliative care
• Advanced communication skills training
• Evidence of recent professional development
• Level 2 Psychological support training
• Proven ability to teach and educate nurses, allied health professionals (AHPs), and patients
• Excellent written, verbal, and presentation skills
• Evidence of innovation and change management skills
• Highly developed interpersonal skills, with the ability to inspire and motivate teams
• Ability to collaborate effectively with multi‑professional teams and cultural organisations, navigating across organisational boundaries in various healthcare settings
• Experience in understanding and applying research and audit processes to support the clinical governance agenda
• Practical experience in driving change and developing practice, including project management
• Proficient IT skills, particularly with Microsoft Office packages
• Strong people management skills and leadership qualities
• Ability to cope with stress and work effectively under pressure

Benefits

• Flexible hours
• Access to free Bank Partners Core Skills training
• Ability to self‑book shifts with a weekly pay system
• Opportunity to work with multiple cases across the community to gain invaluable experience
• Priority of shifts over all agency workers
• An open‑door policy
• Competitive pay

Apply now for this superb opportunity by attaching your CV, and a member of our recruitment team will be in contact with you shortly.