Navigating Advances: SACT National Networking Forum

Rosie has over 20 years’ experience working in oncology and currently works as a SACT specialist nurse at Velindre Cancer Centre, Cardiff, where her responsibilities include staff and patient education, policy development, and working as an independent nurse prescriber. She also has a role as Clinical Lead nurse for SACT and Acute Oncology with the Wales Cancer Network where her role includes working with teams across Wales to reduce duplication of effort and ensure high quality of patient care in both SACT and Acute oncology services. She has led the implementation of several Wales wide initiatives including the development of all Wales Cancer Treatment Alert cards and is currently leading on a review of 24 hour triage lines across Wales . Rosie is chair of the All-Wales SACT nurse forum and chair of the UKONS SACT members interest group. She also has an active role on a number of national workstreams including the CRUK National consent forms steering group, the National SACT protocols group and National Extravasation guidelines group. She completed her PhD studies in 2020 and is actively involved in promoting and undertaking nurse led research with a particular interest in improving the patient experience of SACT induced toxicities.

Since becoming a Registered Nurse in 1993, Philandra's career has spanned various countries and diverse adult specialties. She has been working within genomics since 2011 first as a research sister for cancer and rare disease genetics studies before taking on the role of Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) for the 100,000 Genomes Project and began working in the GMSA in May 2022 as the Lead Genomics Nurse. Philandra is passionate about bridging the gap between genomics and nursing through genomic awareness and education, striving to empower healthcare professionals with the knowledge and skills required for personalised and effective care in the genomics era. Outside of her professional pursuits, she finds solace in reading and rejuvenate through swimming.

Since qualifying as a Registered General Nurse from Queen Elizabeth College of Nursing in Birmingham in 1994, I have been committed to delivering quality care for patients and their families. I have over 20 years’ experience as a cancer nurse administering cytotoxic and targeted treatments in hospitals and the community; inclusive of 10 years leading oncology clinical trials supporting and advocating for patients. I have always striven to practice personalised care and believe the rise in genomic understanding enables patients to control their healthcare choices. I have worked as a Lead Nurse for Central and South Genomic Medicine Service Alliance since April 2022.

Sam has been a cancer / haemato-oncology nurse for over 23 years, having worked initially in Haemato-oncology and stem cell transplant, she then went on to become a Chemotherapy nurse trainer, responsible for the chemotherapy training and education of all nursing staff in a large teaching hospital trust. During this time, she also commenced a post at Birmingham City University as a senior lecturer in Haemato-oncology and chemotherapy, running modules in SACT, Haemato-oncology, Stem Cell Transplant and also supporting the non-medical prescribing programmes alongside her clinical roles. She has also had roles as a Leukaemia Nurse Specialist, an Acute Oncology Nurse Practitioner, and is currently a Lead Chemotherapy Nurse of a large acute hospital trust, and continues as a visiting lecturer at Birmingham City University. 

She is also the Chair of the West Midlands Cancer Alliance SACT EAG, and a member of the National Clinical Leads Group for Chemotherapy.

Dr Sam Orange is a Clinical Exercise Physiologist and lecturer at Newcastle University. He completed a PhD in 2018 at the University of Hull and has over 10 years’ experience in supporting people with long-term health conditions to be physically active. He now leads a programme of research focused on developing and evaluating physical activity interventions in people diagnosed with cancer. He has been an invited speaker at multiple national and international conferences (e.g., American Institute for Cancer Research, American Diabetes Association), his research has received major funding from cancer charities (e.g., Breast Cancer Now), he is an editorial board member at well-regarded scientific journals (e.g., BMC Sports Science, Medicine & Rehabilitation), and his research has informed international guidelines on prostate cancer rehabilitation.