How your cancer nurse specialist can support you

Who are we?

We are a team of nurses who specialise in the care and support of people with a suspected or diagnosed cancer. A Clinical Nurse Specialist (sometimes called a CNS) is available to every patient diagnosed with a cancer. We may also be referred to as your key worker. Many people will be involved in your care and they form the multi-disciplinary team (MDT). Your key worker is the link between you and the other MDT members throughout your treatment. The team also have a coordinator who often answers the phone and will be able to help with your queries.

We run a joint clinic every second Tuesday in Scarborough Hospital with our AHP colleagues (speech and language therapists and dietitians) to support patients before and after treatment. The clinic also runs every Monday at York Hospital. You will be booked into these clinics before any treatment and again after.

What do we do?

We are there to support you at every stage of your disease including:

Diagnosis
During treatment
After treatment
Any recurrence of your cancer

We can support you, your relatives and carers by providing information about tests and investigations, current illness and possible treatments, offering advice and support about side-effects related to your treatment and how best to manage them.

If you have any concerns relating to your diagnosis, treatment and aftercare please contact us.

We can offer you help and advice on

Changes in body image, sexual issues, communication and relationships
Management of the symptoms of your illness and side-effects caused by your treatments; including surgery, radiotherapy, hormone treatments, chemotherapy and other treatments.
Referral to other helpful services including, benefits and financial support, psychological support, complementary therapies, lymphoedema service, district nursing, community Macmillan nurses and local support groups.
Social care and community support
Psychological and emotional issues
Moving on after treatment for cancer