Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) teams
- Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) teams
- Breast Care Nurse Specialist
- Colorectal/Stoma Care Nurse Specialist
- Skin Nurse Specialist
- Upper Gastrointestinal Cancer Nurse Specialist
- Gynaecology Nurse Specialist
- Haematology Nurse Specialist
- Urology Cancer Nurse Specialist
- Lung Cancer Nurse Specialist
- Head and Neck Nurse Specialist
- Acute Oncology/Cancer of the Unknown Primary Specialists
- Specialist Palliative Care Nurses
- Community Specialist Palliative Care Nurses
Other key workers who may be involved in your care
Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) teams
If you have been diagnosed with cancer, you will have your care coordinated by a close team of specialists specific to your primary cancer diagnosis. Your team will usually be a Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS), a clinical support worker, or/and a patient navigator. They will provide support and information around the different investigations you may have to go through and will give support and guidance about your treatment plan. You will be given written information and contact details about your team and their working hours. If you are admitted to hospital in our locality as an emergency, your team will be automatically notified by the Patent Electronic Alert to Keyworker System (PEAKS).
They will contact the department where you are and speak to the staff caring for you and may visit you, if required, during your hospital attendance.
The following clinical nurse specialists (CNS) are based in the Bassetlaw and Doncaster area. They are registered nurses, who specialise in particular fields of cancer care, and are available in clinics and on hospital wards to give advice and support. During your cancer treatment, you may be referred to one of the specialist nurses listed in this guide. You can also contact the nurses yourself for advice and support.
Breast Care Nurse Specialist
The Macmillan Breast Care Nurses work at Doncaster Royal Infirmary and Bassetlaw Hospital sites, offering support and psychological care to patients who have been diagnosed with primary and secondary breast cancer. They are available in the breast clinics and in the oncology clinics that are now located at Rotherham Breathing Space. The Breast CNS team provide information and advice on an individual basis to help patients make informed decisions about their treatment.
The Breast Care Nurses also facilitate prosthesis fitting clinics, nurse-led family history clinics, nurse-led end of treatment appointments and ‘The Moving Forward’ course. They are involved in the NHS Breast Screening Programme, giving support and information to women attending for a recall after routine screening.
The Breast Care Nurses help with a number of support groups across the locality, which are outlined in this guide.
Contact details:
Bassetlaw Hospital
Reception: 01909 572192
Breast Care Nurses: 01909 573228
Doncaster Royal Infirmary
Reception: 01302 642409
Breast Care Nurses: 01302 642410
Lines are open between Monday to Friday, 9am – 5pm.
Colorectal/Stoma Care Nurse Specialist
The Colorectal or Stoma Care Nurses work across the Bassetlaw, Doncaster Royal Infirmary and Montagu Hospital sites. They offer physical (stoma care) and psycho-social support throughout the treatment pathway, to patients who have been diagnosed with colorectal and anal cancer. They extend this support to families and carers. They are present in the colorectal, stoma care and oncology clinics, providing advice about the individual’s treatment and acting as the key worker.
Colorectal patients may also attend stoma care and oncology clinics for stoma related problems or for further support. Appointments for this clinic, which run twice per week in the Doncaster Outpatients department, can be arranged by contacting the colorectal department. Home visit support is offered to patients who are unable to attend hospital but have stoma related issues following a telephone assessment.
The colorectal team now has a cancer care coordinator who assesses the holistic needs of the patient and refers to appropriate services.
Contact details:
Colorectal department appointments: 01302 644365
Colorectal Cancer Care Coordinator: 01302 648084
Skin Nurse Specialist
The Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) in Dermatology provides a service across all hospital sites and is the key worker for patients with skin cancer. The CNS provides information, advice, support, and psychological care for patients, who have been diagnosed with skin cancer and their relatives.
They also hold nurse-led follow-up clinics at DRI and Bassetlaw Hospital. Patents who have been diagnosed with skin cancer, and are being seen by a dermatologist, can refer themselves to a clinic at any time.
Contact details:
Appointments can be arranged by contacting Dermatology reception at DRI.
Dermatology Reception: 01302 644634
Upper Gastrointestinal Cancer Nurse Specialist
The Upper GI Cancer Nurse Specialist (Upper GI CNS), aims to ensure that patients diagnosed with Upper GI malignancies attending hospital receive the highest standard of care, and have access to the support and information they need. This service is ‘patient centred’, which means that it takes into account the views and needs of the patient and their carer.
Contact details:
Upper GI Cancer Nurse Specialist: 01302 644183
Flexi hours are worked Monday to Friday between 8am and 6pm. Contact can be made at any time but if the CNS is not available, a message can be left by voice mail, which will be answered as soon as possible.
Gynaecology Nurse Specialist
The role of the Gynaecology CNS is to provide a continuous link through all areas of care for patients and their families, both during and following a diagnosis of gynaecological cancer. The CNS team consists of two registered nurses, a care navigator and an assistant practitioner, who are all based at DRI but also cover the Bassetlaw area. They visit wards and clinics regularly at both hospitals to see women who have been referred into the service.
Contact details:
Gynaecology CNS: 01302 642813
This number is monitored by an answering machine and reviewed regularly, please leave a message, it will be dealt with as soon as someone is available.
Working hours are Monday to Friday between 9am and 5pm (excluding bank holidays).
Haematology Nurse Specialist
The Haematology CNS is the key worker for patients with haematological (blood and blood-related) cancers. Haematology nurses are based at DRI but also cover Bassetlaw Hospital. They provide information and support and also run nurse-led clinics.
Contact details:
Haematology CNS: 01302 642883
Urology Cancer Nurse Specialist
Urology nurses are based at DRI, but also provide a service across the Bassetlaw, Montagu and Retford Hospital sites. Their role is to provide advice, information, and continued support to patients and relatives whose lives are being affected by a range of urological cancers.
They usually meet patients at their first hospital attendance and are present while they undergo diagnostic tests and investigations. They help coordinate the patient’s care from the time of diagnosis, throughout treatment, and during the follow-up period. Patients and relatives are able to contact them at any time and can arrange to see them in the Urology Department if they wish.
Contact details:
Uro-oncology Nurses: 01302 642535.
Can be contacted Monday to Friday, between 9am and 5pm. Any messages will be responded to as soon as possible.
Lung Cancer Nurse Specialist
The Macmillan Lung Nurse Specialists provide advice and support for patients and their relatives throughout their lung cancer pathway. They are hospital based nurses and meet patients in clinic or on the wards as inpatients. They are also available to give advice to community teams like GPs and district nurses. They liaise with other teams such as cardiothoracic surgeons and the oncology specialists at Weston Park.
They give advice, support and information regarding investigations, treatments and signpost patients to the appropriate services required. They remain the key worker throughout their pathway.
Contact details:
Macmillan Lung Nurse Specialists: 01302 642393
Can be contacted Monday to Friday, between 9am and 5pm.
Head and Neck Nurse Specialist
This specialist is the key worker for patients with head and neck cancer across the Trust. They also provide smoking cessation and support, as well as an outreach service for laryngectomy and tracheostomy patients. Smoking cessation is carried out at DRI and Bassetlaw Hospital on a weekly outpatient basis and the outreach service covers the community throughout the district, including the Dearne Valley and Bassetlaw areas. This is an invaluable service, ensuring patients who are too ill to attend hospital avoid lengthy waits and have individualised home care.
Contact details:
Head and Neck Nurse Specialist: 01302 642421
Acute Oncology/Cancer of the unknown Primary Nurse Specialist
Acute oncology services aim to provide a co-ordinated approach to the care of cancer patients attending emergency departments (EDs) or who are admitted to hospital non-electively by another route with the following presentations:
Complications caused by the systemic (chemotherapy/immunotherapy) treatment of cancer
Complications caused by radiotherapy
Complications caused by malignant disease, whether the primary site us known or unknown, and presenting as an acute problem or oncological emergency
Patients who present with a previously undiagnosed cancer
Patients with Cancer of Unknown Primary (CUP) usually present with metastatic disease (secondary cancer) and despite further investigation, the primary site of the cancer cannot be established. Metastatic Spinal Cord Compression (MSCC) happens as a result of cancer spreading into or near the spine, which can then cause pressure onto the spinal cord. There are pathways for the management of patients who present with symptoms suspicious of MSCC. These patients are treated as a medical emergency as, if left untreated, MSCC can lead to paralysis. The acute oncology team will assist you getting through the pathway as quick as possible, click here for more information on MSCC.
Contact details:
AOS/CUP Nurse Specialist: 01302 642421
Specialist Palliative Care Nurses
The Specialist Palliative Care nurses give specialist advice, information, and support to patients and their carers, as well as to hospital and community-based staff. They support patients with a diagnosis of cancer or other life-limiting conditions.
Contact details:
Doncaster Royal Infirmary and Montagu Hospital
Specialist Palliative Care nurses: 01302 644093
Can be contacted 7 days a week including bank holidays.
Bassetlaw Hospital
Specialist Palliative Care nurses: 01909 572981
Can be contacted Monday to Friday 9am – 5pm.
End of Life Care Specialist Nurses
The End of life care team sees all patients who have been commenced on an end-of-life care plan. This is an individualised plan of care for the last days and hours of life. It enables all healthcare professionals to ensure that a patient is seen as a person and not a diagnosis, that care is personalised to include their values, wishes and beliefs and that these are addressed wherever possible. Medications are also prescribed and individualised to minimise the delay in administration for the key symptoms that may occur at end of life.
The End of Life Care Specialist Nurse attends the clinical area and within the initial consultation, they discuss: the normal and natural confirmations of death and dying; the individualised care plan; medications and their uses; concerns or anxieties; hydration and nutrition with the patient (if appropriate); and the people who matter the most to them. They also provide support, advice and assessment, put plans in place regarding symptom management, discuss the preferred place of care and facilitate rapid discharge, if appropriate. They continue the support after death by conducting a bereavement support call, ensuring the loved ones are aware that they can contact the team at any point.
Contact details:
End of Life Care Specialist Nurse: 01302 642182
The End of Life Care Specialist Nurse works across DRI, Bassetlaw and Montagu and can be contacted seven days a week, including bank holidays.
Research Nurses
Doncaster and Bassetlaw are dedicated to offering a clinical trial or study service to eligible patients. The trials are spread across the cancer sites and patients are asked if they wish to take part in a trial or study.
Contact details:
Research Office: 01302 644072 or 01302 644069
Community Specialist Palliative Care Nurses
Bassetlaw Community Specialist Palliative Care nurse
The Bassetlaw Community Specialist Palliative Care nurse supports patients and families when there is a diagnosis of cancer or another life-limiting condition. They provide education, specialist advice, and support for care staff to deliver palliative and end-of-life care.
Contact details:
Bassetlaw Community Specialist Palliative Care nurse: 01777 274422
Doncaster Community Specialist Palliative Care Nurses
This team aims to provide complex, specialist, palliative care symptom management and advice to patients and families in their own homes, to support them in living with a life-limiting illness.
They work in partnership with your General Practitioner (GP), District Nurse and other health care professionals.
In addition, they are able to support patients and families requiring more palliative input, so that they can remain in their preferred place of care. Enhanced care will be predominantly provided by healthcare assistants that can support patients and their loved ones at this difficult time in their lives. The health care professional looking after your care, usually your GP or District Nurse, can refer to the service with your consent.
Contact details:
Doncaster Community Specialist Palliative Care Nurses: 01302 566666
Social Worker
Employed by Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council, there is a social worker based at Doncaster Royal Infirmary, who forms part of the hospital’s social care team. They work closely with the specialist palliative care team, CNS, and other members of MDT, to provide practical and emotional support and advice. They also carry out social care assessments for individuals who have been diagnosed with a life-limiting illness, supporting their families and carers. Many of their clients are inpatients, and the main focus of the role is to assess and provide services to enable people to be discharged safely and timely to their preferred place of care.
They ensure the client and family are fully aware of their choices and advise them on any benefits and resources available to meet their needs.
The social worker can also provide a limited service to outpatients and acts as a resource to other local authorities and health colleagues who seek guidance on social care issues on behalf of their clients.
Contact details:
Social Worker: 01302 642527
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