Quality standard

Quality statement 5: Skin cancer clinical nurse specialist

Quality statement 5: Skin cancer clinical nurse specialist

Quality statement

People with malignant melanoma or squamous cell carcinoma have access to a skin cancer clinical nurse specialist.

Rationale

Skin cancer clinical nurse specialists can provide specialist guidance and support at all stages of care and treatment, including follow‑up. They can act as a source of information (including about local support groups), psychological support and palliative care if needed. People with other forms of skin cancer may also need support from a skin cancer clinical nurse specialist, depending on their individual needs and the impact of their disease.

Quality measures

Structure

Evidence of local arrangements and clinical protocols to ensure that skin cancer clinical nurse specialists are available for people with malignant melanoma or squamous cell carcinoma.

Data source: Local data collection.

Process

Proportion of people with malignant melanoma or squamous cell carcinoma who have a skin cancer clinical nurse specialist.

Numerator – number in the denominator who have a skin cancer clinical nurse specialist.

Denominator – number of people with malignant melanoma or squamous cell carcinoma.

Data source: Quality Health National Cancer Patient Experience Survey and National Cancer Intelligence Network Cancer Outcomes and Services Dataset.

Outcome

a) Quality of life among people with malignant melanoma or squamous cell carcinoma.

Data source: Quality Health National Cancer Patient Experience Survey.

b) Satisfaction with support received from skin cancer clinical nurse specialist, reported by people with skin cancer.

Data source: Quality Health National Cancer Patient Experience Survey.

What the quality statement means for service providers, healthcare professionals and commissioners

Service providers (secondary and tertiary care) ensure that skin cancer multidisciplinary teams have a skin cancer clinical nurse specialist to support .people with malignant melanoma or squamous cell carcinoma under their care.

Healthcare professionals (members of local hospital skin cancer multidisciplinary teams or specialist skin cancer multidisciplinary teams) ensure that people with malignant melanoma or squamous cell carcinoma have access to a skin cancer clinical nurse specialist.

Commissioners (clinical commissioning groups and NHS England) ensure that there are enough skin cancer clinical nurse specialists to support all people with malignant melanoma or squamous cell carcinoma.

What the quality statement means for patients and carers

People with a type of skin cancer called malignant melanoma or squamous cell carcinoma have a skin cancer nurse specialist who can provide information, advice and support.

Source guidance