Meet the team… Nicky Lambert, Clinical Lead for Nursing

Hello, I’m Nicky and I am the Clinical Lead for Nursing at the Northern Cancer Alliance (NCA).

Looking back nurses’ roles and nursing has changed significantly with advancement of roles and responsibilities being a far cry from the opportunities I had when I first started my nursing career.

It was 1984 when I enrolled in nurse training at York District Hospital – and things were quite different then. Training was held in a classroom in a hospital, we wore our full uniform all day and there were eight nurses in my cohort, not the 100 plus that we see nowadays. After qualifying I went to Leeds, were I worked in general medicine. There I looked after my first cancer patient, a lady in the advanced stages of lung cancer. It was at that point I made a conscious decision that I wanted to be a cancer nurse, however there wasn’t a true career pathway like there is now. What has never changed is the opportunity to truly offer a holistic approach to cancer patients and their families – this was the bit that absolutely cemented my decision to be a cancer nurse.

I completed specialist study at the Radiotherapy Centre for West Yorkshire in Leeds before moving to Middlesbrough General Hospital in 1989. I worked on various acute wards until I secured a staff nurse position on a ward that cared for upper GI and head & neck surgical cancer patients, I then transferred to South Cleveland Hospital, the now James Cook University Hospital.

Over the years I have seen and been part of the introduction of specialist services, the inception of dedicated cancer centres, multidisciplinary team (MDT) meetings. I have seen advances in radiotherapy and chemotherapy as well as the birth of immunotherapy. In 2010 I completed a Masters in advance practice and took on the role of lead cancer nurse alongside that of nurse consultant for cancer of unknown primary and MDT lead. I enjoyed building strong links with Macmillan Cancer Support and other partners. I then earned the additional title of lead clinician for cancer in 2018. Even after nearly 40 years I would still be a cancer nurse and I would still encourage others to do the same.

In my role for the NCA I work closely with Karen Stenlund, Workforce Lead, to ensure we have appropriately skilled professionals who have access to learning opportunities which helps increase patient experience and retain staff. This role supports equity of service provision across the NCA footprint and ensures the workforce is supported. My portfolio also includes experience of care, working with the Engagement and Involvement Lead with specific reference to interpreting and supporting teams to understand the Cancer Patient Experience Survey (CPES) and Quality of Life survey (QoL) data to ensure a good patient experience. I am currently leading on AOS redesign which feeds into the Non-Surgical Oncology project.

All these pieces of work ensure I work with partners across North East and North Cumbria, regional and national organisations including NHS England Workforce, Training & Education (NHSE WT& E (HEE), educational providers, patients and carers, which keeps me busy, whilst working 3 days per week.

I have two grown up children, who have successful careers of their own now, not in health!  a husband and a very large and energetic labrador, so in my spare time you will find the three of us trying to climb a mountain, preferably in the Durham Dales or Lake District or curled up on the sofa watching a good drama.