The Yorkshire Cancer Patient Forum is an independent network of cancer patients, carers and family members as well as healthcare and voluntary sector professionals who work with cancer patients.
We are a patient-led network, covering all of Yorkshire and the Humber. Macmillan fund an Engagement and Communications Officer, Jill Long, to support the Forum, who is employed by Healthwatch Wakefield.
The Forum aims to enable the views and experiences of people affected by cancer, to be heard and used to improve the quality of cancer care in the region.
The Forum were keen to find out about the quality of care, cancer patients have received, and in particular, the role played by a clinical nurse specialist (CNS), who may also be known as a keyworker, support worker or care coordinator.
The CNS or keyworker plays an extremely important role in each patient’s care – also known as a pathway of care.
They provide support through the pathway from diagnosis to treatment, follow up, and beyond. A total of 91% of cancer patients were given the name of a CNS according to the National Cancer Patient Experience Survey 2017. We wanted to look at the local picture.