Lung Cancer Screening Nurse - Band 8a

Job overview

Lung Cancer Screening (formerly known as the Targeted Lung Health Check programme) is a national programme of work which involves identifying and screening patients who may be at high risk of developing lung cancer. Patients aged between 55 and 74 with a current or ex-smoker record on their GP notes will be invited for a Lung Cancer Screening appointment and their risk for lung cancer will be assessed. If high risk for lung cancer, they will be offered a low dose CT thorax (LDCT) in a community setting.

The Responsible Assessor for the Lung Cancer Screening (LCS) programme is a key role working with patients, clinicians, and other partners, to implement Lung Cancer Screening across the Essex ICB. It is an integral part of the overall programme governance structure with specific responsibility for the safety and operational aspects of the process to select and assess the individual cases for entry into the programme. They will provide clinical leadership and professional oversight of the Lung Cancer Screening pathway, supporting the assessment and management of participants and contributing to the day‑to‑day operational delivery of the service. The post holder will work closely with the Respiratory Department, Community Providers and ICB colleagues to ensure safe, effective and patient‑centred care.

They will also be required to represent the service at appropriate meetings within the Trust and to promote the service to the wider health community.

The role is also an integral part of the team delivering a Faster Diagnostic service to the lung pathway. The primary purpose of the role is to provide advanced clinical assessment, decision‑making and pathway management for patients undergoing Lung Cancer Screening and Faster Diagnostic Standard pathways, acting as an expert clinical practitioner within the multidisciplinary team.

The post holder should have highly developed knowledge, skills and clinical expertise in diagnosis, management and treatment of lung cancer.

This is a senior nursing role that leads the drive to improve the quality of patient care across the lung service. In conjunction with the Matron, Clinical Lead and service manager, the post holder will work across organisational boundaries to ensure appropriate services are in place and to deliver national and local strategic and operational service objectives and quality standards.

The role provides assessment of new suspected lung cancer referrals through triaging and then forming an individual care plan for the patient. The role will follow these patients through their pathway until diagnosis or discharge. The responsible role holder will provide expert clinical advice working with cancer referrals office and cancer performance team to ensure the 28 day Faster Diagnostic Standard is met.

They will be responsible for managing their own case load of patients ensuring a high quality, effective, safe and efficient service.

Main duties of the job

• Setting up post LDCT Screening Review Meetings and linking in with clinical colleagues to discuss those patients with significant findings.
• To act as facilitator, educator and role‑model in delivering a comprehensive lung cancer service
• To work collaboratively with clinical and nursing colleagues, community teams and designated health and social care organisation in delivering appropriate patient centric treatment and care
• The post holder is expected to establish and maintain positive interpersonal relationships with other staff members characterised by trust, mutual respect and open, honest communication.

The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust (PAHT) is proud to care for the communities of West Essex, delivering safe, compassionate, and high‑quality services. We are part of the Neighbourhood Wave—a national programme that’s changing how care is delivered by focusing on prevention, early support, and more joined‑up services across health, social care, and the voluntary sector.

This means we’re working more closely with local partners to bring care closer to home and support people to live healthier, more independent lives.

We’re a supportive and inclusive organisation that values its people. We offer development opportunities, flexible working, and a strong focus on wellbeing. As a Disability Confident and equal opportunities employer, we welcome applicants from all backgrounds and experiences.

Join us and help shape the future of care in West Essex.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• Communicate with patients and general practice about positive findings of LDCT. This may include facilitating further management in primary and/or secondary care and could include speaking to clinicians outside of the Trust.
• Initiate and contribute towards a multi‑disciplinary/ professional approach in the management of lung cancer
• To provide up‑to‑date information, support and advice to patients and their carers who have a diagnosis of lung cancer
• Sensitively handle difficult situations that may arise, involving patients, carers and healthcare professionals.
• Act as the patient’s key worker by forging close links across both primary and secondary pathways, co‑ordinating seamless care delivery
• Utilise evidence‑based information through a variety of communication media.
• Maintain adequate patient documentation to NMC requirements for all patients seen and advice given in any practice setting and contribute to clinical activity/data collection as required
• Work collaboratively with clinicians within the multidisciplinary team, and take the lead where appropriate, in identifying innovative ways to improve the service and patient care.
• Take responsibility for assessing and triaging patients referred on the lung cancer pathway and planning and implementing a diagnostic pathway.
• Be able to assess the quality of the referral in terms of completeness of mandatory information and request additional information where required.
• Undertake a clinical assessment including symptom assessment, past medical/surgical history and medications.
• Request downgrading of referral from ‘suspected cancer’ to routine where appropriate.
• Where lung cancer is suspected or needs to be excluded, request the appropriate diagnostic tests based on information from referral and telephone assessment.
• Provide explanations and information to the patient regarding their investigations and pathway.
• Liaise with endoscopy and radiology departments to ensure timely delivery of investigations in order to meet 28‑day standard.
• Follow‑up on test results and arrange any further investigations that are necessary.
• Where cancer has been excluded, communicate the results to the patient and discharge from the cancer pathway. If significant symptoms persist, arrange suitable follow‑up.
• Link with site‑specific cancer CNS and MDT co‑ordinator in the event of a positive diagnosis.
• Work autonomously to provide evidence‑based, comprehensive, advanced assessment, treatments and management of patients with highly complex needs, and to be able to instigate care pathways
• Providing specialist care and exercising professional and clinical leadership skills to promote best practice
• Work collaboratively with the Lead Nurse and Service Manager in supporting the safe and effective delivery of care within the 2WW and cancer pathways.
• Contribute to the collection, analysis and presentation of service delivery, patient outcome and key performance indicator data to support service monitoring and improvement
• To work with and refer appropriately to other agencies to enable identified patients to be managed in a pro‑active way, with the aim of improving the overall patient and care experience.
• To foster a culture that encourages continuous learning and develop skills in quality improvement
• To act as a clinical champion for the lung cancer pathway, promoting best practice and supporting colleagues to enhance patient care delivery
• Critically analyse research related to practice, and use findings to influence and change practice where applicable
• To use expert knowledge, advanced clinical skills and autonomous decision‑making skills, in the assessment and treatment of patients with lung cancer
• To educate and empower patients and carers to identify early signs of changes in conditions, and provide them with the necessary knowledge and skills to gain independence and make informed choices to safely manage their conditions
• To participate in working groups relevant to the service within and external to the Trust and to represent the Trust at relevant stakeholder meetings/ committees
• Participate in identified management and service delivery meetings.
• Participate in MDT meetings, as agreed by the service and lead nurse to ensure smooth transitions of care and treatment where required.
• Participates and consults on the development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies/ guidelines/ protocols relevant to specialist area
• Participates and consult upon the clinical governance process, including harm reviews, adverse incident reporting/ investigation and management of complaints, relevant to their area of practice and expertise
• Provide leadership and support for the nursing teams within the diagnostic and cancer pathways.
• To demonstrate robust clinical decision making, with an ability to set, monitor and improve standards of care
• To support recruitment, induction, supervision and development of staff within the Lung Cancer Screening service as delegated by the Matron or Service Manager
• In conjunction with the lead clinician, lead nurse and service manager, embrace national recommendations and standards for lung cancers, constantly striving to achieve these through updating Trust policies, trend analysis and new developments
• Act as patient advocate, ensuring ethical and legal issues are adhered to in all clinical practice
• In collaboration with other members of the MDT, develop and implement documentation that reflects the service standards of care and national cancer guidelines and standards
• Support the integration of theory and practice through formal and informal methods, including clinical educational opportunities
• Assess and identify the educational needs of patients and their carers and through appropriate advanced communication skills, aim to meet these needs
• Uses their professional judgement in managing complex and unpredictable care events and captures the learning from these experiences to improve patient care and service delivery.
• Provides expert professional input to appropriate health improvement programmes to meet the local agenda in line with the national framework
• To take a lead in promoting and managing change to improve practice, co‑ordinating existing resources and developing links, locally and nationally.
• To act as a role model, to promote consistently high standards of professional practice
• To share expert knowledge, to advise, and provide support to less experienced nurses
• Identifies own development needs in line with service requirements within personal development plan and proactively develops and improves own competence.
• Frequently critically appraises and synthesises the outcomes of relevant research and evaluations and applies them to improve practice.
• Build a culture of audit and research in practice, in line with national research agendas and priorities.
• Demonstrate advanced clinical knowledge and skills in the speciality of lung cancer screening and respiratory medicine in relation to the assessment, care and management of patients with lung cancer and respiratory conditions
• Manage referral of patients who are identified as having a clinical requirement and identifying when a patient requires medical attention.
• Undertake training to be able to complete LDCT assessment and be able to facilitate appropriate on‑going referrals.
• Proactively manage a referral, tracking and outcome process for CT scans and other tests
• Ensure onward referral to other relevant care providers i.e. smoking cessation, pulmonary rehabilitation, etc

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