Outreach cancer care team shortlisted for top national award

The outreach cancer care team at Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust have been shortlisted for a top national award.

The Cancer Care and Haematology Macmillan Systemic Anti-Cancer Treatment (SACT) Outreach team at Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust has been shortlisted for the 2019 Nursing Times Awards in the Cancer Nursing category.

These awards recognise those making nursing an innovative, patient-focused and inclusive profession. They provide the opportunity to congratulate peers, leaders and the brightest talent entering the profession.

The team was nominated by Annie Richards, Consultant Nurse in Cancer Care and Haematology, for the care they provide for patients closer to home via outreach clinics now running in Amersham, Marlow and Thame hospitals. Annie describes the team as having put ‘high level strategy into practice by introducing a small change to make a big impact‘ through de-centralising the service so the team can deliver care in clinics closer to patients homes.

The new clinics provided by the outreach cancer service are in direct response to patient feedback.

Neil Macdonald, Trust Chief Executive said: ‘This partnership with Macmillan is great news for people with cancer in Buckinghamshire, who will be able to get the same expert care from our nursing teams, but in a hospital closer to their home.‘

Francesca Lis, Macmillan SACT Outreach Clinical Nurse Specialist/Team Leader, said ‘Being nominated for this award is a tremendous honour and reflects all the hard work we put into making the clinics happen.‘

Joanne Wright, one of the first patients at Amersham, said ‘I really appreciate being away from an acute facility that is closer to home.‘

The SACT Outreach team will present to the judging panel in early September 2019 ahead of the awards ceremony taking place on Wednesday 30th October 2019 at the Grosvenor House Hotel on Park Lane in London.