Pathology Patient Pathway Co-ordinator

Job summary

We have an exciting opportunity for a Patient Pathway Co-ordinator to join our Cellular Pathology team. The post provides a vital link between Cellular Pathology, Cancer Services, clinical teams and external providers, supporting the timely progression of patients through the cancer diagnostic pathway.

You will monitor and track pathology specimens, investigations, results and reports against national cancer waiting time standards and locally agreed milestones, proactively identifying and resolving potential delays and escalating concerns where necessary. The role also includes attending Cancer PTL meetings, maintaining and validating accurate pathway information, monitoring performance and supporting service improvement.

We are looking for a confident, proactive and highly organised individual who can use their initiative, exercise judgement and manage competing priorities in a busy and pressured environment. Excellent written and verbal communication skills, strong IT skills and the ability to analyse and interpret information are essential.

Main duties of the job

• Co-ordinating and monitoring the pathology component of cancer patient pathways, tracking specimens, investigations, results and reports against agreed turnaround times and cancer pathway milestones.
• Proactively identifying and resolving potential delays, expediting outstanding investigations and reports and escalating pathway risks or concerns appropriately.
• Attending Cancer PTL and relevant pathway meetings, providing pathology updates and progressing actions for patients requiring close monitoring.
• Working closely with Cellular Pathology, Cancer Services, tumour-site PPCs, clinical teams, external pathology providers and tertiary centres to support timely clinical decision-making.
• Maintaining, validating and reconciling accurate cancer pathway information across relevant clinical and administrative systems, identifying and resolving data-quality issues.
• Monitoring and analysing turnaround times and pathway performance, identifying trends, exceptions and breaches and supporting the production of performance information.
• Acting as a key point of contact for pathology-related cancer pathway enquiries, using judgement and initiative to resolve issues or escalate where appropriate.
• Supporting failsafe processes, including monitoring outstanding ancillary investigations such as IHC and genomic testing, to minimise avoidable delays.

About us

A wide range of staff benefits are available to our staff including staff development, enrolment in the NHS pension scheme, auto-enrolment to our Temporary Workforce Service, access to nurseries at Conquest Hospital and Eastbourne District General Hospital, staff restaurants and on-site staff accommodation.

In addition to an internal Occupational Health department, all staff also have access to free psychological support through our confidential Employee Assistance Programme which is available to staff 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Onsite parking is available for a small administration fee.

There has never been a better time to join East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust, submit your application today.

Job responsibilities

Please refer to the job description attached.

If you have any questions about this position please do not hesitate to contact us.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential

• Good standard of educated to GCSE / A Level - including English and Maths
• NVQ Level 4 Management Certification / Business Services or proven relevant training and experience
• Evidence of on-going relevant professional development to degree level or equivalent

Experience

Essential

• Previous experience of analysing data
• Previous experience of working for the NHS or another large organisation
• Experience of working without close supervision and multi-tasking to tight deadlines
• Must have experience of working under pressure and within a large team
• Awareness of National Cancer Targets and COSD

Desirable

• Experience of service improvement
• Previous experience of working in the NHS
• Understanding of hospital IT systems

Skills

Essential

• To be able to understand cancer waiting times and make decisions on the information
• Good grounding in medical terminology