Health professionals

We aim to keep you informed and up to date with new information and areas of practice as they develop.

Teenage Cancer Trust's services team work closely with health managers, commissioning groups and local Primary Care Trusts to plan the development and location of Teenage Cancer Trust units.

We also fund several services for professionals in the field of Teenage and Young Adult cancer care.

• The world’s only International conference...

• A Multidisciplinary Forum...

• We fund the country’s first Professor of Teenage Cancer Medicine...

Head of Nursing and Quality

"Nurses funded by Teenage Cancer Trust help to identify the impact of cancer on a young person, facilitating them to prioritise their needs, enabling them to continue life as they had hoped or supporting them to create their future lives.’’

Teenage Cancer Trust believes that nursing is fundamental to the delivery of high quality holistic care and as a consequence has recently invested in two Head of Nursing and Quality posts.

Laura and Sam are extremely excited about their new roles which will involve providing professional advice to the Charity on the nursing and quality agenda and supporting and developing funded staff to further improve quality and standards of care for TYA’s with cancer throughout the UK. They are currently working on the following projects:

• Implementing a 5 year nursing strategy to consolidate and expand Teenage Cancer Trust nursing.
• Defining core nursing roles and developing metrics to measure nursing impact and contribution.
• Developing an education and research strategy for nursing.
• Working collaboratively with senior managers and staff to produce an organisational wide governance framework.

Laura Clark, Head of Nursing and Quality South (RGN, RSCN, Post Grad Diploma Health Service Management)

Laura has worked in the field of young adult oncology for over 25 years where she has gained first hand insight into the challenges faced by young people and their families whilst undergoing treatment for cancer, and has developed her career-long passion for the specialty.

Throughout her career Laura has gained extensive knowledge and experience in health care in clinical practice and leadership, and also in senior operational and strategic management. She believes strongly in partnership working and has a long track record of successful project management, including the strategic and operational commissioning of the Teenage Cancer Trust unit in Cardiff. Since the unit has opened, she has used her clinical expertise to lead a team to develop pathways of care to ensure the unit supports improved outcomes and experience. As a result the unit has become the focus for the development of a world class service for TYA’s with cancer in Wales.

Laura was a key member of the specialist clinical project group that developed the All Wales Standards for TYA cancer services .She is a member of the NCRN Devolved Nations Project Group, set up to ensure equity of access to clinical trials for all children and young people in the United Kingdom.

Sam Smith, Head of Nursing and Quality North (MSc, BSc, RN Child DipHe, Specialist Practitioner)

Sam’s professional career started as a Staff Nurse working in Acute Paediatric Medical care and Paediatric Intensive Care before moving into Paediatric and teenage oncology. Sam became the Ward Manager on the Teenage Cancer Trust Manchester Unit at The Christie and went on to become TYA Lead Nurse and TYA Nurse Consultant. She has worked with teenagers and young adults with cancer for over sixteen years developing services and staff caring for this unique patient group. Sam has also worked within the education sector as a part time Nurse Lecturer/Practitioner and has also worked as a Professional Development Lead.

Sam’s has a particular interest in delayed diagnosis and is involved in research and projects examining delay in this age group. She is also committed to patient involvement and set up the first formal Teenage patient involvement group which has had national success and has been successful at lobbying for TYAs with cancer locally and nationally in parliament.

Sam works across a wide geographical area and advises nationally and internationally on teenage and young adult cancer. Sam is a board member of various national groups including the CYPIOG Advisory Group, NCRI TYACSG and the Department of Health Cancer Patient Experience Group. Sam is a board member of TYAC and is Vice Chair of the Service Development Group.

Sam was the project lead for the Blueprint of Care work which has recently been launched.

Essential standards of quality and safety

What standards to expect from the regulation of NHS hospitals

Following the introduction of a new law, all NHS hospitals in England must now be licensed by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). To be licensed, hospitals must show that they are meeting new essential standards of quality and safety. CQC continuously monitors them to make sure standards are upheld or improvement action is taken.

CQC has published a leaflet which informs patients, their carers and families, what they can expect from the essential standards. The leaflet also explains how important it is that patients or their carers tell the regulator about their experiences, both good and bad, to help CQC make the right decisions.

The ‘What standards to expect from the regulation of your NHS hospital’ leaflet can be read or downloaded from the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

At the same time the CQC website publishes an up-to-date directory of all licensed NHS hospitals. You can now look up the current status of any NHS hospital trust in England.