Team of two receives Nursing and Allied Health Professionals Award
Published on 28/06/2022
We are delighted to announce that two of our thoracic advanced clinical practitioners (ACPs), Jo Cahill and Lisa Kenyon, have won an award for "Best Advanced Clinical Practitioner Team of the Year". This has been awarded by the Nursing and Allied Health Professionals (NAHP), within the Society of Cardiothoracic Surgery (SCTS).
This award recognises the remarkable work of Jo and Lisa, who in 2019 set up their own "Life after Lung Cancer Surgery" service. This service aims to improve outcomes for patients and provides holistic support, after lung cancer diagnosis.
Following surgery, patients are referred to this team for their five-year follow up and the service designs a cancer surveillance programme, including regular CT scans, for that patient. By setting up their own clinic, Jo and Lisa have freed up time for consultants in busy surgical clinics, enabling consultants to see new patients and meet new lung cancer targets. As the clinic is run virtually, often with video consultations, patients do not have to travel to receive support and can speak to the team from the comfort of their own home.
The service was first implemented at Heartlands and Solihull hospitals, with clinics now in place at Good Hope Hospital and Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham. Since 2019, the team has seen more than 350 patients. Of those patients, around 50 were discharged at the end of their surveillance programme, while around 80 were referred back for further management, following abnormal CT scans. This enhanced cancer surveillance programme service is continuing to grow and develop, streamlining the follow-up process for patients who receive a cancer diagnosis.
Jo and Lisa said: “We are absolutely delighted to have received the award and quite surprised too, because we are such a small team and we were up against some amazing competition.
"We couldn’t deliver this service without the support that we receive from others around us in the thoracic team, including all of the consultant and secretaries.
"Although it’s just the two of us running the clinics, we all ultimately work together as a big team to ensure such a successful service is provided to our patients.”
Congratulations, Jo and Lisa, for all of your brilliant work.
