Patient navigator role and patient information

Patient navigator role

Having a single point of contact is perceived by patients and professionals to be an optimal component of the RCDS.

"Yeah. The pathway experience was in sharp contrast to everything else … to have that little diamond in the middle, where you really felt held and cared for, you know, that somebody was on it."

RCDS patient

 

Each RCDS has a patient navigator at the core of their pathway, supporting patients and families from the point of referral. Duties of the navigator include advising patients of appointments, ensuring tests are booked, supporting patients, and handling requests or enquiries from patients throughout their pathway. NHS Fife has developed a helpful diagram detailing the role and responsibilities of each RCDS team member along the pathway. A job description example is also available.​

 

"After the initial phone call I was quite overwhelmed. I initially didn't take up the offer of a CT scan because I needed to get my head around the fact that I might have cancer. The staff agreed to call me back a few days later. I'm so glad they did and soon I was given a CT scan appointment and got the results. The staff at the RCDS listened to my concerns and put me at ease and I'm pleased to say the outcome was good for me. Without this reassurance I may not have had the scan. Thanks to the RCDS staff, they made a worrying time less so.”​

RCDS patient​

 

Patient information

Patient resources have been developed in collaboration with third sector organisations and patient representatives: a template patient leaflet is available for RCDSs to use. Ideally, this should be shared with the patient at the point of referral. If this has not happened, resources should be shared with the patient by the RCDS Team as soon as possible. ​

An animated patient video has also been developed and can be viewed below. ​