Clinical Nurse Specialist
Receiving a cancer diagnosis is a life-changing event and you and your family may experience a wide range of emotions, and have a lot of questions and concerns throughout your cancer journey.
Heidi Blake
Your Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) Heidi Blake, is available to provide you with ongoing support from the initial investigations leading to diagnosis, throughout your treatment and on to living with and beyond cancer.
Heidi is an integral part of a team of people involved in your care. She is in frequent contact with surgeons, medical consultants and oncologists and has strong links with the teams at Royal Surrey. Heidi is contactable via the Macmillan patient navigators:
- 01932 723939
For assistance regarding clinic appointments, you may contact the Upper Gastro-Intestinal Secretaries on:-
01784 884308 for Mr N. Menezes, or email:
For Gastro Clinic Admin Team for Gastro consultants; Dr AV Gunasekera, Dr E Harrod, Dr N Ikin, Dr D Majumdar, Dr O Mohamed, Dr A Naik, Dr R Reynolds, Dr H Robbins, Dr S De Silva, the direct lines: 01932 72 2229, 01932 72 3431, 01932 72 6890, 01932 72 2065 and 01932 72 2154 or email:
Your Cancer Pathway
At Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals we provide a personalised approach to your care. We aim to deliver a holistic method of supporting people living with and beyond cancer. Support to lead as healthy and active a life as possible, for as long as possible. To help navigate your cancer experience the following will be discussed with you:
A Holistic Needs Assessment (HNA) will be offered after you have received a definitive diagnosis and had a discussion with a consultant about treatment plans. The HNA consists of a checklist of concerns that we ask you to rank in order of importance. These concerns will address any physical, practical, family/relationship and emotional issues your diagnosis brings. Once this has been completed by you, your Macmillan patient navigator / support worker (Claire) will then contact you to talk through the most important issues either face to face or by phone.
Claire will draft the care plan and provide you with tailored information and possible referrals to other agencies such as Macmillan.
A Treatment Summary will be completed at the end of your treatment, a copy will be sent to your GP and discussed with you. It will provide you with information including possible late effects associated with your treatment. It will also highlight any signs and symptoms of recurrence of disease.
Cancer Support Workers
Cancer support workers offer a dedicated support helpline for all our cancer patients, family members and carers. They are available to answer questions, help with appointments and access local support services as well as provide support throughout your cancer journey. They work closely with your CNS and if the question or concern is of a clinical nature they will contact your CNS who will return your call.
Dedicated Support helpline
Contact Number: 01932 723939
Email:
Chemo Hotline
If you are or have recently been receiving cancer treatment, the 24-hour oncology treatment hotline is:
01483 571 122
Mon - Fri 9-5 Ask for pager 6516
Outside of above hours ask for the on-call oncology registrar
Welfare and Benefits Advisor
For help and support with anything from blue badges, food banks, benefits and liaising with housing, we can refer you to the team who have regular Monday appointments at St Peter’s – this can be requested via Patient Navigators:
01932 726856
Macmillan Support and Information
At St Peter’s Outpatient department, area 2, there is a Macmillan Resource Room providing a quiet place to sit, offering many informational booklets for you to browse or take home. Macmillan provides a number of resources which are readily available to you such as:
- Understanding your specific cancer
- Cancer treatments and their side effects
- Support groups and services
- Welfare benefits
Macmillan Cancer Support has invested £1.9 million into a new cancer support centre that will be located within the Ashford Hospital site. The Centre is due to be up and running by the end of 2024. The purpose-built facility will provide a space where experts and trained volunteers will listen, answer questions, and offer personalised information and support to help manage the impact of cancer.
As well as getting help with money worries and emotional support, patients will be able to access nurses and counselling sessions, complementary therapies, exercise classes and support groups.
Clinical Research
Research is a key aspect of the work of the NHS. It is through research that we provide evidence upon which we base our care and treatments and improve our treatments.
The NHS constitution states that it is every patient’s right to be able to participate in a research study should they wish to, and should they meet the requirements of the study.
There are many ongoing cancer clinical research projects at Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals, you may be asked to participate in a study by your gastroenterologist, Surgeon or Oncologist.
