Cancer network directors have been appointed by the North Central London Cancer Alliance to lead improvements in tumour-specific cancer care for patients. Following an interview process, senior health care professions including nurses, a pharmacist and medical consultants have been appointed to the roles.
Each network director will devote half day a week to working with colleagues to improve patients’ outcomes and experiences of care, including making use of available data about each cancer diagnostic and treatment pathway, and leading efforts to implement changes that benefit patients.
Working with the North Central London Cancer Alliance, the network directors will be the main source of expert advice to local cancer teams. Their responsibilities will include:
- working with local departments and patients to co-design improvements which lead to better performance, less variation and better experience
- sharing best practice
- promoting improvement in the quality of submission of local data
- producing and reviewing clinical guidelines for cancer care in north central London.
Holly Norman, interim programme director for the North Central London Cancer Alliance said: “It’s an important development for our Cancer Alliance to have a group of clinical experts with clear cut, dedicated time to fulfil their roles. They bring knowledge of our local trusts and their clinical expertise to bear on our efforts to make lasting improvements in cancer care in our part of London. We have appointed experienced people with specialised knowledge, and we will benefit from their detailed scrutiny of our local cancer pathways.”
The network directors are:
| Network | Director | Full time job title | Hospital Trust |
| Chemotherapy (joint post) | Kerry Guile | Consultant Nurse, Lead Cancer Nurse | Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust |
| Simon Jenkinson | Lead Pharmacist, Cancer Services | Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust | |
| Gynaecology | Nicola MacDonald | Consultant Gynaecological Oncologist and Clinical Lead for Gynaecological Oncology | University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH) |
| Head and neck (joint post) | Ruheena Mendes | Consultant Clinical Oncologist (Head and Neck Cancer) | UCLH |
| Denise Flynn | Lead Clinical Nurse Specialist (Head and Neck Cancer) | UCLH | |
| Hepato- Pancreato- Biliary (HPB) | Prof Joerg-Matthias Pollok | HPB and Liver Transplant Consultant Surgeon, Clinical Lead for HPB Surgery and Liver Transplantation, Professor of Surgery, Division of Surgery & Interventional Science | Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust/UCLH |
| Lower Gastrointestinal (GI) | Chetan Bhan | Clinical Director, Surgery and Cancer | Whittington Health NHS Trust |
| Lung | Anant Patel | Consultant Physician & Co-Clinical Lead Lung Cancer and Clinical Service Lead | Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust |
| Non-specific symptoms (NSS) | Andrew Millar | Consultant Gastroenterologist and Hepatologist Trust Cancer Clinical Lead, Clinical Lead for Upper GI Cancer | North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust |
| Urology | Ashoke Roy | Consultant Urologist | Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust |
Further appointments will be made in the coming months.
