Macmillan Associate Nurse Specialist Lower GI Team

Macmillan Associate Nurse Specialist Lower GI Team

The closing date is 16 November 2025

An exciting opportunity has arisen for someone who is highly motivated and looking to develop their career in cancer nursing within the Colorectal Cancer Team. The post is a band 6 role with the opportunity to undertake relevant training and education. The Cancer Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) team for colorectal cancer is looking for a motivated, flexible, and resilient band 6 cancer nurse specialist to join our team.

The Colorectal Cancer CNS team cross site collaborates to ensure a seamless pathway for our patients. We are passionate about developing and improving cancer services.

Working with the guidance and support of the CNS Leads and wider CNS teams, the post holder will provide individualised patient centred care for those who have been diagnosed with colorectal cancer.

We are a dynamic, motivated, and supportive team, who work flexibly to meet the needs of the whole service and improve it while supporting each other. The cancer division is currently developing consistent standards of care and collaborative working across the Trust.

They will be instrumental in reviewing and improving communication and pathways between the multidisciplinary teams involved in the patient's care and management.

This post would be ideal for nurses with a background of colorectal surgical/acute care or cancer nursing experience.

We strongly encourage informal visits, email or telephone contact about the post.

Main duties of the job

• Support patients and colleagues at breaking bad news and through the investigation/staging pathway
• Contribute to the personalised care of the patient. Provide appropriate information and advice to patients and others affected by cancer
• Provide a responsive service to queries and concerns - being able to triage and make appropriate clinical decisions, working within your limitations, referring to senior colleagues as necessary
• Signpost and refer to services appropriately, such as counselling, and palliative care
• Provide support to junior members of the team
• Liaise effectively with members of the multi disciplinary teams, including oncology, stoma care and ERP
• Provide cross cover across disease site teams as required
• Work effectively and collaboratively with the CNS teams across UHSussex and with our partner organisations
• Be a support and mentor to junior staff members
• Actively lead on and contribute to service development - including developing appropriate KPIs that are measurable and demonstrate service improvement

About us

At UHSussex, diversity is our strength, and we want you to feel included to help us always deliver Excellent Care Everywhere, as shown in our Outstanding for Caring CQC rating. Your uniqueness and experiences will be part of our creative and innovative community where everyone is encouraged to succeed. We have a range of staff networks to help break down barriers, and can offer a buddy to help new members settle in. We're proud to be a Disability Confident Employer (Level 3) and a Veteran Aware Trust.

Candidate Pack

Job responsibilities

Please see JD and person specification for full details

To include but not limited to:

• Attendance at the Multidisciplinary meetings and clinics - Triaging helpline contacts and making clinical decisions appropriate to your grade
• Contact, according to standards of care, from point of diagnosis through staging, treatment and transition to palliative care as required
• Completion of Holistic Needs Assessments at appropriate points of the patient pathway
• Signposting and making appropriate referrals
• Liaise regularly with oncology, stoma care and ERP teams
• Contribute to the service development of individual and wider cancer CNS teams
• Presence at breaking bad news clinics as required
• Delivering and supporting patients when receiving life altering / limiting news
• Demonstrate effective and compassionate enhanced communication skills
• Ensuring pathways for investigations and treatments are timely - managing and escalating as required any concerns that may impact the diagnostic and treatment target dates
• Working clinically autonomously to provide advice in response to unscheduled contacts from patients and professionals and in nurse led clinics
• Reviewing current practice and working collaboratively to improve, including the development of nurse led clinics
• Contribute to effective teamwork
• Contribute to audit
• Working in line with trust values and the NMC code of conduct

This role is eligible for visa sponsorship under the UK Visas & Immigration (UKVI) Skilled Worker route however sponsorship can only be provided where applicants meet the specific requirements set by UKVI, including the relevant skill and salary thresholds (£25000), and any role specific criteria.

Person Specification Qualifications

• NMC registration
• Educated to Post Graduate Diploma level or equivalent level of experience
• Evidence of relevant further study
• Oncology and/or specialty related qualification or equivalent experience
• Advanced Communication Skills training
• Psychological assessment skills Level 2 training
• Research qualification
• Recognised teaching qualification or prepared to work towards it
• Masters level learning or prepared to work towards it

Knowledge and Skills

• Relevant experience at band 6
• Demonstrable enhanced communication skills
• MDT / cross boundary working
• Service development / improvement / change management experience incl. audit and data analysis
• Demonstrates commitment to personal and professional development
• Leadership and mentorship experience
• Relevant post registration experience in cancer, palliative care or the specialty
• Breadth of nursing experience

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

• Evidence of having championed diversity in previous roles (as appropriate to role)
• Evidence of having undertaken own development to improve understanding of equalities issues

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust (279)

£38,682 to £46,580 a year per annum pro rata