Acute Oncology Service (AOS) in NHS Scotland: principles

13. Training Requirements/Recommendations

Development of a specialist AOS requires a coherent approach to defining the purpose and breadth of the services, formal ongoing training and development of the multidisciplinary workforce to lead and deliver them.

There will need to be investment to ensure comprehensive coverage and develop a robust training programme, this should be an early area of focus. Provision of support for education and training from regional, or national, cancer specialist centres to outlying cancer units and acute sites will be required.

Staff involved in specialist AOSs should be able to meet the appropriate competency level in the UKONS Acute Oncology Knowledge and Skills Guidance¹⁰ contained in the training section of the UK Acute Oncology Service website ¹¹. There are 4 competency levels: Basic; Intermediate; Advanced; and Expert, which cover multi-professional involvement in AOSs for the following patient groups:

• Acutely unwell adult patients who present as an emergency and have a suspected new diagnosis of cancer
• Acutely unwell adult patients who are currently receiving systemic anti-cancer treatment and/or radiotherapy
• Acutely unwell adult patients who have a known cancer diagnosis and may be suffering from complications of cancer

Those directly involved in delivering care in a specialist AOS team would require to meet the following competency levels:

Level 3 – Advanced level knowledge, skills and competency for registered healthcare professionals who have a regular, active participatory role in the provision of Acute Oncology Services for the patient groups listed above.

Applicable to:

• Acute Oncology Clinical Nurse Specialists
• Acute Oncology Advanced Nurse Practitioners
• All Specialist Registrars in oncology and haematology
• Members of the Specialist Palliative Care Team if they have a regular, active participatory role in the provision of Acute Oncology Services

Professionals listed above should also complete Level 4 competencies if they are responsible for service development/management

Level 4 Expert – Expert level knowledge, skills and competency for registered healthcare professionals who have a participatory role in acute oncology services for the patient groups listed above and are responsible for acute oncology service development/management/clinical leadership.

Applicable to:

• Acute Oncology Nurse Consultants
• Acute Oncology Advanced Nurse Practitioners
• Acute Oncology Speciality Doctors
• Oncology Consultants
• Haematology Consultants
• Palliative Care Consultants, if they have a regular, active participatory role in the development, leadership and provision of Acute Oncology Services

A high-level summary of medical and advanced practice training requirements is available in Appendix 3.