Cancer Pathway Navigator

Job summary

Fixed term until 1st March 2026. 37.5 hours per week

The Cancer Pathway Navigator role is a central point of contact for patients on a rapid diagnostic, suspicious of cancer pathway; helping to ensure the individual needs of the patient are supported and that care is built around those needs, as well as facilitating seamless, coordinated pathway delivery including through escalation to relevant departments; and a better, more personalised diagnostic experience for patients.

The post-holder will work closely with the wider cancer team (both clinical and administrative), as well as other key health and social care providers, to enable person centred care and efficient implementation of the pathway (including achievement of the 28 Day Faster Diagnosis Standard).

The Cancer Pathway Navigator will be involved from the beginning of the pathway and up to the point of definitive diagnosis (whether cancer or not).

The post holder will identify and resolve barriers to care, working flexibly and responsively to unlock bottlenecks and delays. Within the parameters of the role, the Pathway Navigator will help support the patient with shared decision-making and self-management.

The role will reflect the Level 3 and some Level 4 competencies as described in Macmillans Person Centred Care Competency Framework (2020).

Main duties of the job

• To offer personalised care and support to patients and their carers
• To manage the expectations of patients and carer
• To provide coordinated care and support through the diagnostic phase of the patients pathway
• To treat patients and their families/carers with dignity and respect
• To demonstrate high levels of integrity, sensitivity and compassion in all aspects of the role
• To utilise effective communication skills that are responsive to the communication needs of individual patients, to elicit an understanding of the holistic needs of the individual; and develop agreed plans of support and care with the patient (a
• To be able to adapt the style of communication to meet the needs of differing individuals
• To utilise every contact counts opportunities to provide individually tailored information and advice which promotes self-management.
• To work closely with colleagues across a range of support resources
• To ensure appropriate signposting to other organisations across health and social care and beyond; and to link to colleagues in other localities when the needs of the patient require this
• To act as an advocate and role model for person centred care across all components of the pathway to positively influence the approach and behaviours of other care/support providers

Job responsibilities

The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust (TRFT) is a combined acute and community Trust serving our local population of around 270,000 people. Our vision is to always act the right way and be proud to provide exceptional healthcare to the communities of Rotherham.

As a Trust we are on a journey to excellence and our people and culture are at the heart of everything we do for patients. In the latest NHS Staff Survey, we are the second most improved Trust in England for would you recommend the Trust as a place to work?, and were one of the most improved for staff engagement overall.

But dont just take our word for it each year hundreds of colleagues receive nominations for our Excellence and Proud awards, showcasing our brilliant people and recognising their achievements. Our people make a difference to the lives of patients every day and we are proud of the improvements we are making.

All of our 5,100 colleagues are key to our improvement journey, and we are continuing to improve our services by upholding the Trusts values of Ambitious, Caring and Together. If you are passionate about making a difference, then please apply to join us on our journey to excellence.