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Job summary

Main area
Administration
Grade
NHS AfC: Band 4
Contract
Permanent
Hours
Full time - 37.5 hours per week
Job ref
249-7352875
Employer
Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Employer type
NHS
Site
Great Western Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Town
Swindon
Salary
£27,485 - £30,162 Per Annum
Salary period
Yearly
Closing
18/09/2025 23:59

Employer heading

Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust logo

Systemic Anti-Cancer Treatment (SACT) Scheduler

NHS AfC: Band 4

Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is a unique organisation, serving as the sole integrated provider in the Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon, and Wiltshire system. Our scope extends beyond boundaries as we oversee adult community services in Swindon and provide acute care from the Great Western Hospital. 

Our 5,500 staff have 1.2m patient contacts a year, with 13,000 operations carried out in our Theatres, around 4,000 babies born, and our emergency attendances are now well over 100,000 per year. Those numbers only tell part of our story about what an exciting time it is to join Great Western Hospitals.

We are cultivating a culture that fosters our ambitions, prioritising equality, diversion, inclusion, wellbeing, and leadership. We aim to create an environment where every member of our team can truly thrive.

The Trust is a Disability Confident Employer; all applicants who have a disability can opt to be considered under the guaranteed interview scheme, which means that, providing they meet the minimum essential criteria for the post, they will be offered an interview. We are also proudly accredited as a Veteran Aware organisation and have signed The Armed Forces Covenant.

If we receive a high volume of applications, we may close adverts prior to the published closing date. Therefore, we advise you to complete and submit your application as soon as possible.

Job overview

This part-time role is embedded within the Chemo Scheduling Team and plays a vital role in supporting the delivery of safe and timely cancer care. The postholder will coordinate the electronic Systemic Anti-Cancer Therapy (SACT) scheduling system, ensuring accurate and efficient booking of treatments and interventions for cancer patients.

Key responsibilities include:

  • Scheduling day case chemotherapy treatments and related medical interventions.
  • Booking new patients into the treatment pathway.
  • Managing treatment delays where clinically appropriate.
  • Coordinating associated procedures and diagnostics to align with treatment plans.

The role requires strong organisational skills, attention to detail, and the ability to work collaboratively with clinical teams to ensure patients receive care within national cancer waiting time targets.

Main duties of the job

Book appointments

Communicate with clinical teams, patients and colleagues

Plan patient treatments

Manage outpatient treatment schedules

Maintaining accurate patient records

Dealing with telephone queries

Performing prescription administration

 

Working for our organisation

“Our STAR values – Service, Teamwork, Ambition and Respect – are a golden thread running through everything we do. These values serve as a guiding principle, driving us towards our vision of delivering great joined up services to our local community. Whether at home, in the community, or within the hospital, our goal is to empower individuals to lead independent and healthier lives.”

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

1.    Book appointments and manage treatment schedules for all patients referred for, or undergoing, SACT treatments from oncology and haematology teams, ensuring that treatments are scheduled within Cancer Waiting Times targets and clinically indicated timings.

2.    Book appointments and manage outpatient treatment schedules for patients under the care of medical speciality teams.

3.    Prompt communication with clinical teams regarding new patient appointments or changes to treatment schedules.

4.    Demonstrates effective communication skills with patients and colleagues. Communicating information in a sensitive manner, managing challenging conversations and concerns appropriately.

5.    Ability to organise workload, continuously assessing requests and booking appointments on a priority basis.

6.    Liaise directly with patients regarding their treatment appointments, providing information of any associated appointments, managing patient expectations of the SACT delivery service.

7.     Plan patient treatments in accordance with capacity of the day treatment units, considering a range of influencing factors such as nursing staff levels, availability of blood test results and sufficient time for pharmacy ordering and dispensing times. Able to judge complex situation, often with competing priorities.

8.    Ensure capacity within the day treatment units is used efficiently, rescheduling appointments where necessary and ensuring any changes are communicated in a timely manner with colleagues and patients.

9.    Document and maintain accurate patient records at all times, including amending patient demographics in accordance with the record keeping policy.

10.  Answering the telephone, dealing with queries, transferring calls and taking messages when needed

11.  Set up systems to collate information and reports regarding ward and staff activity for management purposes and ensure that information is updated where required.

12.  In collaboration with relevant staff, collate nonclinical information and draft correspondence e.g. letters, reports, references and memorandums using own judgement and initiative.

13.  Perform prescription administration – linking each individual prescription per patient to scheduled appointments on the Aria© system.

14.  Ensure knowledge of SACT regimens and associated care or interventions, is up to date and appointments are booked in accordance with clinical protocols.

15.  The post holder is required to have in-depth knowledge of both Aria© and Bookwise systems and will be expected to trouble-shoot administrative issues and train colleagues to use the systems proficiently.

16.  Work collaboratively with the cancer management team, escalating individual cases or insufficient capacity as appropriate.

17.  Manage appointments for patients requiring a Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter (PICC), working collaboratively with the PICC Service to meet the needs of both services.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria
  • Educated to GCSE level in English and Maths or overseas equivalent qualifications.
  • NVQ level 3 in Customer Services or Business Administration or above
Desirable criteria
  • ECDL or equivalent.
  • Specialist knowledge or experience of chemotherapy scheduling
  • Communication Course

Experience

Essential criteria
  • Comprehensive IT skills.
  • Experience of working within a multiagency / professional team
  • Experience in an administrative background
  • Recent experience in customer focussed environment.
  • Experience of working to tight deadlines and managing conflicting priorities
  • Experience of working to tight deadlines and managing conflicting priorities.
Desirable criteria
  • Working knowledge of data protection and confidentiality.
  • Knowledge of Medical Terminology.
  • To have previously worked in a medical, health or social care environment.
  • Knowledge of ARIA and Bookwise systems

Employer certification / accreditation badges

NHS Pastoral Care Quality AwardVeteran AwareApprenticeships logoNo smoking policyPositive about disabled peopleAge positiveDisability confident leaderInvestors in People: Goldhttps://www.gov.uk/government/publications/kickstart-scheme-employer-resources/kickstart-scheme-brand-guidelinesStonewall equality policy. Equality and justice for lesbians, gay men, bisexual and trans people.Step into healthArmed Forces Covenant

Applicant requirements

The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Documents to download

Apply online now

Further details / informal visits contact

Name
Lynne Hall
Job title
Service Manager Oncology
Email address
[email protected]
Telephone number
01793 646161
Additional information

Available Tuesday - Thursday

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