Why is there a need for the UKAOS?
Acute Oncology provides a critical medical service for patients who require emergency treatment related to their cancer diagnosis; the UK Acute Oncology Society (UKAOS) aims to bring together a wide range of professionals to develop a cohesive multi-disciplinary expert body to support the developments of standards, guidelines, education, and research and most critically ensure acutely unwell cancer patients receive the best possible standard of care throughout the four UK nations.
Acute Oncology developed in response to key reports on safety of systemic Anti-Cancer Therapy in the UK; the National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcomes and Death (NCEPOD) report “Systemic Anti-Cancer Treatment - For Better, For Worse - (2008)” and the National Chemotherapy Advisory Group Report “Chemotherapy Services in England; ensuring quality and safety” 2009. The starting principle was to ensure systemic anti-cancer therapy was delivered safely and robust mechanisms were in place to improve patient safety. It is a multi-professional service delivered by oncologists, haematologists, acute medical consultants, A&E consultants, clinical nurse specialists, pharmacists, oncology nurses and palliative care specialists. The remit extends beyond systemic therapy complications to include new diagnosis of cancer or progressive disease in the emergency setting. The importance of acute oncology competency to the medical cancer workforce was recognised by the GMC in 2020; expert oncology teams will be required to work more closely with acute care.
In 2020, a team of multi-disciplinary professionals began to consider the need for a UK Acute Oncology Society and established strong professional support both via a ‘start up meeting’ and survey; informal discussions were held with members of NHSE, NCRI, UKONS, and BOPA.
The society has a structure to support our work and ensure that we are working within national guidance for a charitable organisation.
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UKAOS Trustees:
- Dr Ernie Marshall - Consultant Medical Oncologist, The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre, Merseyside.
- Dr Caroline Wilson - Consultant Medical Oncologist,The Christie NHS Foundation Trust.
- Dr Hilary Williams- Consultant Medical Oncologist,Velindre Cancer Centre, Cardiff.
- Philippa Jones MBE- Acute Oncology Nurse Advisor.
- Joanne Upton - Director of Nursing and Clinical Service,Lloyds Pharmacy Clinical Homecare.
- The trustees are responsible for overseeing the society and ensuring that we have the required governance and reporting ptrocesses in place. We are a charitable organisation and are registered with the charity commision. We comply with charitable commision rules and regulations.
UKAOS Clinical Advisory Board Members:
- Dr Caroline Wilson (Chair)- Consultant Medical Oncologist,The Christie NHS Foundation Trust.
- Dr Ernie Marshall - Consultant Medical Oncologist, The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre, Merseyside. (UKSACTBoard)
- Dr Hilary Williams (Treasurer and Trustee) Consultant Medical Oncologist,Velindre Cancer Centre, Cardiff. (Wales) (RCP)
- Philippa Jones (Membership Secretary and Trustee) Acute Oncology Nurse Advisor.
- Dr Catherine O’Doherty. Consultant in Palliative Medicine, Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust. (Palliative Care Lead)
- Alison Taylor. Acute Oncology Nurse Consultant, The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre, Merseyside. (MUO Lead)
- Dr Anthony Cunliffe. Macmillan National Clinical Adviser for Primary Care/Macmillan Lead Clinical Adviser and Clinical Adviser for London/Joint Clinical ChairSouth East London Cancer alliance. (Primary Care Lead)
- Dr Tim Cooksley. Consultant in Acute Medicine, The Christie Foundation NHS Trust.
- Dr Lois Mullholland. Consultant Oncologist.South East Health & Social Care Trust. (Northern Ireland)
- Dr Saif Ahmad. Consultant Oncologist ,Cambridge University Hospitals. (Consultant Oncologist subgroup) (RCR)
- Dr Kate Young. Consultant Medical Oncologist ,The Royal Marsden Hospital. (Consultant Oncologist subgroup) (ACP)
- Dr Anne McKillop. Consultant Oncologist, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. (Scotland)
- Alison Wilson. Lead ANP for Acute Oncology ,NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. (Scotland)
- Kate Lacy. Macmillan Metastatic Spinal Cord Compression Service Lead, The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre. (MSCC Lead)
- Ceri Stubbs. Acute Oncology Consultant Nurse, Velindre Cancer Centre. (Wales)
- Dr Radha Selvaratnam. Acute Medical Consultant,King's College Hopsital NHS FoundationTrust. (SAM)
- Joseph Williams. Specialist Clinical Pharmacist,The Christie Hospital. Chair- British Oncology Pharmacy Association (BOPA)
- Andrew Hickson. Lay Member and Acountancy/Finance advisor
►The Trustee Group meets every 3 months
►The The Clincal Advisory Board meets every 3 months
The society holds an Annual General Meeting in accoradnce with charitable guidelines.
If you would like to see dates of previous meetings or copies of meeting minutes please complete an enquiry form at this link
A thank you to our retired Trustees and Board Members:
Naomi Clatworthy- Acute Oncology Nurse Consultant, Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust. UKONS Board Member. Naomi was an inaugural board member of the UKAOS and a leading voice for Acute Oncology Nursing within UKAOS and UKONS.
Dr Claire Mitchell - Consultant Medical Oncologist,The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester. Claire was an inaugural board member of UKAOS and a key supporter in the dvelopment of AO services nationally.
Catherine Donnelly. SCR Customer Manager, Somerset NHS Foundation Trust. Catherine was an inaugural board member of UKAOS and has supported the development of the NHS England data set
- Lisa McCauley. Macmillan Acute Oncology Clinical Nurse Specialist, Northern Health & Social Care Trust. Lisa was an inaugural board member of UKAOS and has represented Northern Ireland.
- Donna Munro - Professional Lead for Education – Programme Manager Nursing Education Team
Royal College of Nursing (RCN)
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Pat Gillis - Associate Director,Lead Nurse, Cheshire and Merseyside Cancer Alliance
- Dr Andrew Viggars. Consultant Clinical Oncologist, Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust.
- Dr Andrew Stewart was an inaugural member of the UKAOS and was the voice for Haematology in the development of acute oncology services. Andrew worked for many years with the NHS England Acute Oncology Group and was a leading voice in the development of Acute Oncology nationally.
Dr Robert Stuart was was an inaugural member of the UKAOS and was also a valued member of the NHS England Acute Oncology Group and conrtibuted to the development of Acute Oncology nationally. Robert is a Consultant Clinical Oncologist with a keen interest in the managemnet of MSCC.
Dr Frances Yuille is a Consultant in Clinical Oncology at The Edinburgh Cancer Centre and represented Scotland on the UKAOS Board ensuring that we had 4 nation representation.
The UKAOS Programme Management Group (PMG)
Membership:
The PMG Members were identified based on AOS experience, knowledge and shared aim of driving forward the UKAOS work plan and ambition.
Rotation and new membership occur every 2 years and will be advertised via the UKAOS website
The purpose of the group:
The PMG is a multi-disciplinary group providing greater cohesion between the UKAOS Board and subgroups and supports the full UKAOS Board and sub-groups to ensure smooth operational functioning and coordination of UKAOS work streams including:
- Operational oversight of UKAOS work streams
- A coordinating role across subgroups ensuring effective communication for cross cutting themes
- Management of Board delegated duties where these do not sit in specific subgroups annual work programmes
Membership:
UKAOS Board representatives:
Dr Ernie Marshall
Philippa Jones
UKAOS member representatives:
Alison Redfern - Macmillan Acute Oncology / MUO / CUP Lead Nurse, Northern Care Alliance (Salford Royal Hospital) UKAOS Nursing Subgroup Chair
Dr Elinor Gatfield- Consultant Clinical Oncologist, The Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust
Helen Card - Cheshire and Merseyside Cancer Alliance Senior Transformation Manager – Urgent Cancer Care
Katie Hudson - AO Transformation Lead - Wessex Cancer Alliance
Markie Chestnut-Acute Oncology Nurse Consultant. The Isle of Man
All meetings are minuted - if you wish to access the minutes please contact us using the form at this link.