Publish date: 25 November 2024
An initiative to increase cancer nurse specialist (CNS) roles in England was showcased by staff from West Yorkshire and Harrogate Cancer Alliance at a national cancer nursing conference this month.
The Macmillan Workforce Development Programme was spotlighted at the UKONS 2024 conference in Manchester which had the theme of ‘Working Towards Positive Change in Cancer Care.’
Sarah Grant, North East Yorkshire’s CNS Workforce Programme Manager, presented a conference poster to highlight the programme - launched following Macmillan’s most recent workforce census which demonstrated worrying vacancy rates across specialist cancer nurse roles in England.
Stakeholders from within the North East and Yorkshire workforce alliance identified that to meet the needs of people living with cancer, now and in the future, a structured approach to workforce development for cancer nurse specialists was needed.
The Macmillan Workforce Development Programme was created in partnership with Health Education England (HEE), local cancer alliances and Macmillan Cancer Support.
The collaboration is between four North East and Yorkshire cancer alliances, West Yorkshire and Harrogate, the Northern Cancer Alliance, Humber and North Yorkshire and South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw.
It is aligned to Macmillan Workforce Strategy and supports the implementation of the Aspirant Cancer Career and Education Development programme (ACCEnD). To do this it:
- addresses a clear shortage, within the North East and Yorkshire Alliance, in the CNS workforce
- contributes to and informs the development of the ACCEnD programme through testing, feedback and aligned formal evaluation
- contributes to the evolving Macmillan and national workforce strategy
- contributes to a more efficient and effective way to support the development of a competent and capable workforce
Sarah Grant said: “We were proud to be one of 147 posters selected to showcase the themes of ‘education and training,’ with a poster representing the NEY Macmillan CNS development programme.
“The programme generated a lot of interest and was positively received. A highlight was to see one of the development cancer nurse specialists, Ruth Goodfellow, based at Harrogate District Foundation NHS Trust, in attendance.”
