Children's Oncology Lead Nurse

Job summary

The Children's Oncology Lead Nurse will provide nursing expertise within the Children's Oncology Service.

Support and help coordinate the provision of the Children's Oncology Outpatient Clinic.

Support and coordinate the Children's Oncology care in the Community.

Be a visible presence for all patients on the inpatient ward(s) and any other departments within the Trust who need the specialist advice.

Provide effective input into the work of the Trust, to support the achievement of our vision and values.

Main duties of the job

The Children's Oncology Lead Nurse will deliver a safe, effective, high-quality service aligned with Trust strategy. They will assess the needs of children, young people and families, ensuring their views inform care.

They will provide clinical leadership, act as a role model, address concerns and promote evidence-based practice. They must maintain competence in chemotherapy, intrathecal chemotherapy, cannulation and venepuncture, ensuring staff training and competency assessments meet Trust and Peer Review standards.

Responsibilities include staff development, education, clinical supervision, appraisals and access to current policies. They will manage clinical risks, oversee incident reporting and investigations, analyse Datix data, implement action plans and share learning.

They will lead audits, develop guidelines and operational policies, and contribute to annual reports, Macmillan reviews and national cancer standards. Working with the Ward Manager, Matron, medical teams, Primary Treatment Centre and East Midlands Cancer Network, they will optimise staffing, resources, admissions and transfers.

They will support ethical research, implement best practice, maintain accurate data, represent the Trust regionally and understand commissioning arrangements, promoting continuous improvement and excellent patient experience.

Job responsibilities

The Childrens Oncology Lead Nurse will ensure the provision of high quality, effective and safe clinical service line with the Trust Nursing and Midwifery Strategy.

To carry out an assessment of need for the patient and their parents.

To act as a clinical leader and role model for staff, demonstrating high standards of care at all times, excellent leadership and promotion of the service.

To maintain a visible daily presence across the childrens oncology service and act, in conjunction with the Ward manager, as the first point of contact for patients, relatives and staff to address concerns and complaints.

To consider new innovative ways of working which enhance patient care and develop new skills in response to emerging knowledge and techniques.

To be competent and safe in the administration of chemotherapy and Intrathecal chemotherapy.

To be competent in extended skills such as cannulation and venepuncture.

To identify the learning and development needs of all grades of clinical staff.

To provide regular and appropriate training programmes for those staff using evidence based and current resources.

To ensure all staff have access to up-to-date Trust protocols and other documents including online services relating to Childrens Oncology.

To act as the named chemotherapy nurse and to be responsible for the timely training and regular assessment and competence of all staff undertaking chemotherapy administration and to ensure the service meets all requirements as identified by the Primary Treatment Centre and Peer Review.

To participate and assist in the continual learning of self and all staff so that personal development plans progress, clinical supervision is delivered and succession planning is promoted.

To ensure the children, young persons and family views are sought regularly in order to assess, implement and evaluate care.

To recognise any clinical risk within the service and instigate appropriate risk assessment, prevention, reporting and investigation.

To ensure senior managers are informed of proposals and service progress.

To ensure correct data systems are implemented and maintained.

To participate in Macmillan service reviews and peer reviews to produce an annual report that includes data, outcomes and productivity.

To lead in the preparation of an operational policy and an annual report and work programme in readiness for peer review against National Cancer measures.

To work with the Primary Treatment Centre and East Midlands Cancer Network. Facilitating attendance at the appropriate meetings, annual general meeting and the provision of education.

To produce audit and action plans in conjunction with the Ward Matron.

To develop guidelines and protocols that enhances the patient experience in the clinical are in line with Macmillan and Trust policies in liaison with the Ward Manager

To ensure that research is undertaken in an ethical and critical way.

To attend the Paediatric Practice Development meetings as required and facilitate the transfer of best practice into the clinical environment.

To create a vision for the Childrens Oncology Service that shows creativity, innovation and advanced reasoning.

To meet with the Ward Matron on a weekly basis to discuss staffing levels, skills, education requirements and equipment needs.

To demonstrate good communication strategies by liaising with the Ward Matron and senior medical staff to ensure optimal bed occupancy and timely admission and transfer of children with an oncology diagnosis.

To be involved in the management of sickness, appraisals, poor performance, incidents/datix and complaints.

To lead in investigations as necessary ensuring action plans are completed and learning shared.

To have a sound knowledge of the governance structure and datix analysis.

To represent the Trust at Network and regional level where appropriate.

Have an understanding of commissioning arrangements for the service in accordance with the service specification

About the employer

Please submit your application as soon as possible, as we reserve the right to close adverts once sufficient applications have been received.

We recognise that AI tools can support application writing; however, candidates are asked to keep their use to a minimum. Responses should reflect your own experience, skills and knowledge, as over-reliance on AI-generated content may result in generic answers that do not accurately represent your abilities.

University Hospitals of Northamptonshire (UHN) brings together Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust. As a group, we are committed to improving services for our communities through collaboration, modernising care delivery and striving for excellence. Working together enables us to share expertise, strengthen services and create greater opportunities, and there may be a requirement to work across sites depending on service needs.

Our Excellence Values are Compassion, Accountability, Respect, Integrity and Courage. UHN welcomes applications from all backgrounds and is committed to an inclusive working environment. We are proud signatories of the Armed Forces Covenant and hold the Gold Award under the Employer Recognition Scheme. Candidates who identify as members of the Armed Forces community and meet the essential criteria will be guaranteed an interview.