Allied Health Professionals (AHPs) and Pharmacists play a vital role in the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation and recovery of people affected by cancer.
Whether you're supporting someone to prepare for treatment, managing the effects of cancer and its treatment, helping patients regain independence, or improving quality of life, your contribution is essential to delivering high-quality, person-centred cancer care.
ACCEND recognises the unique skills AHPs and Pharmacists bring to cancer services and provides a framework to support career development, professional growth and workforce transformation across all areas of practice.
Prevention and Early Intervention Supporting public health initiatives, health promotion and behaviour change.
Prehabilitation Helping patients prepare physically and psychologically for treatment.
Treatment Support Managing the effects of treatment and helping patients maintain function and wellbeing.
Rehabilitation Supporting recovery following surgery, systemic treatments and radiotherapy.
Living With and Beyond Cancer Helping patients manage long-term and late effects of treatment.
Palliative and Supportive Care Improving quality of life and supporting independence throughout all stages of care.
Cancer care relies on a diverse range of Allied Health Professionals. Within Specialist Cancer Care, you may find:
Physiotherapists Supporting physical function, prehabilitation, rehabilitation, fatigue management and recovery following treatment.
Occupational Therapists Helping people maintain independence, return to meaningful activities and adapt to changes caused by cancer or its treatment.
Dietitians Supporting nutritional assessment and intervention throughout the cancer pathway, including treatment, recovery and survivorship.
Speech and Language Therapists Supporting communication and swallowing difficulties associated with cancer and cancer treatment.
Therapeutic Radiographers Delivering radiotherapy treatment and supporting patients throughout their treatment journey.
Diagnostic Radiographers Providing imaging services that support diagnosis, treatment planning and disease monitoring.
Pharmacists Support patients receiving SACT, provide advice on medicines management, help manage side effects, and contribute to treatment planning within multidisciplinary teams.
Prosthetists and Orthotists Supporting mobility, function and quality of life following cancer treatment and surgery.
AHPs and Pharmacists support people affected by cancer at every stage of their journey. You may work within specialist cancer services, or support people affected by cancer as part of a wider service such as rehabilitation, community care, diagnostics or mental health. ACCEND can help you:
Understand Your Role Identify the knowledge, skills and behaviours relevant to your current role and area of practice.
Develop Specialist Expertise Explore opportunities to develop cancer-specific knowledge and capabilities.
Plan Your Career Understand progression opportunities and the capabilities associated with different levels of practice.
Demonstrate Your Impact Evidence your contribution to patient outcomes, service development and multidisciplinary care.
Support Professional Development Use ACCEND to guide appraisal conversations, development plans and learning activities.
Improve Patient Experience Develop the skills and knowledge needed to deliver personalised, evidence-based care to people affected by cancer.
If you're relativley new to Cancer Care, you may wish to complete Foundations of Cancer Care first before exploring the framework and other Learning and Development opportunites. Foundations of Cancer Care has been designed for all, regardless of professional background.
“I haven’t had much experience of cancer patients before and it gave me a whistle stop tour of all the stages of a patient’s journey. As an oncology nurse, I’ll be treating the side effects and symptoms of cancer and its treatments, so it was really good to have an insight of how they work.” Rosie, Newly Qualified Staff Nurse
ACCEND is based on levels of practice rather than job titles. Many healthcare professionals in cancer services will identify with one or more of the following levels:
Registered Typically relevant for newly qualified or developing practitioners within Cancer Care, or all registred healthcare professionals working outside of Cancer Care.
Enhanced Experienced AHPs/Pharmacists who have developed specialist expertise within their professional role within Cancer Care.
Advanced Clinical Leads, Advanced Clinical Practitioners and other senior roles within Cancer Care.
Consultant Relevant for AHP/Pharmacy Consultants, and strategic leaders operating at organisational, regional or national levels within Cancer Care.
Remember, ACCEND is flexible. You may find that elements of your role align with more than one level of practice. If you're still not sure, you can always use the ACE Level Checker.
ACCEND is designed to support every stage of your career, from registration through to advanced and consultant-level practice.
ACCEND gave me an excellent background knowledge in cancer care, the cancer pathway and a better understanding of the patient experience. It was also a good opportunity to meet wider teams. - Kate, Physiotherapist
The framework can help you evidence your experience, identify learning needs and build a personalised development plan that aligns with your career aspirations.
We recommend completing a self-assessment against your current level of practice and exploring the capabilities relevant to your role.
Would you like to:
Explore the ACCEND Framework further?
Visit SYBCA Learning and Development?
Return to the ACCEND Portal?
Follow us on social media: @CanAlliance_SYB
There are no upcoming events.
