Hospital news
Diana Higgins, PALS and Patient Information Officer (right), speaks with a patient
UKONS honour
Nurse Consultant voted oncology nursing president Natalie Doyle, Nurse Consultant, Living With and Beyond Cancer at The Royal Marsden, has been voted President of the United Kingdom Oncology Nursing Society (UKONS). Natalie, who has worked at The Royal Marsden for the past 16 years, was nominated by the society’s board and then voted in by UKONS members. She will hold this prestigious position for the next two years. “I am delighted to have been elected President,” Natalie said. “This is a very exciting opportunity for me to continue the excellent work of my predecessors, uniting oncology nurses across the country and giving them a voice.”
UKONS represents cancer nurses and cancer nursing across the UK. Natalie believes that she can lead the society in its continued efforts to inspire nurses in this field by supporting their training and development, whether they work in specialist cancer settings, general hospitals or primary care and the community. As part of the role, Natalie is also involved in the UKONS annual conference and plans to modernise the society’s website. Also, in an attempt to help nurses to be able to join UKONS and get involved with national activities, members voted at the AGM to repeal the membership fees for 2013–14.
This is an exciting opportunity for me to unite oncology nurses and give them a voice Natalie doyle, Nurse Consultant, Living With and Beyond Cancer, the royal marsden
Natalie Doyle
Patient Advice and Liaison Service
advice by the Bedside T he Royal Marsden’s Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) is now taking its help and advice to the wards. With PALS by the Bedside, staff are now visiting clinical areas and wards to ensure patients can easily access PALS. Individuals can still visit the Help Centres for information on the services available to them. “We feel that some patients don’t know what we do or where we are,” said PALS and Patient Information Officer Diana Higgins. “So, as well as advertising our Help Centres and providing contact cards for patients to fill out, we decided to take the service out to the wards. “People often think PALS just deals with complaints, but we give a lot of support, information and advice on many issues, hold resolution meetings to sort out problems and work with various hospital departments,” she added. “PALS by the Bedside brings what we do into the clinical areas and lets patients know we are here.” PALS and the Patient Information Service run Help Centres at Chelsea and Sutton
to provide information, support and advice to patients, their families and friends, and the staff involved in their care. “We have a unique setup here,” said Diana. “We are all health professionals. For example, Rebecca Phipps and I are trained nurses and my other colleague, Jan Graham, is a social worker. We’re also unique in that PALS and our Patient Information Service are combined and based in our Help Centres. Not many other organisations offer this.” The Chelsea Help Centre is based in the Ambulatory Care Centre, while at Sutton it is to the left of the main entrance, at the top of the ramp. Both are open 9.30am to 4pm, Monday to Friday. Email PALS at patientcentre@rmh.nhs.uk or call Freephone 0800 783 7176.
We bring what we do into the clinical areas and let patients know we are here diana higgins, PALS and Patient Information Officer, THE ROYAL MARSDEN
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20/02/2013 14:55