12 60 seconds with… Naresh Balasingham Colorectal cancer multi-disciplinary team (MDT) coordinator Tell me a bit about your role Ultimately our role as MDT coordinators is to help ensure that no patient who gets referred to us on an urgent suspected cancer pathway falls through the net. The MDT team has over 40 members, including MDT co-ordinators, trackers and cancer performance managers all responsible for different tumour sites, across BH, CFH and the RFH. We’re tracking investigations and chasing up scans, ensuring things are done for patients and their family members in a safe and timely manner. I also organise weekly MDT meetings with our consultants to discuss next steps for patients and plan treatments. For me it’s not just about organising meetings or meeting targets, it’s about remembering that there’s a patient and a family member behind every single scan that we expedite and every single investigation we chase. And that’s what really drives me, I think it’s such a rewarding profession. MDT co-ordinators are the backbone of any cancer MDT. What would you say to someone who is thinking of a career in this area? Don’t ever wait. There’s no perfect time to get into a role that you’re interested in. I would say just go for it, if you’re interested in systems, if you’re interested in improving things. It’s a whole team when it comes to cancer care. You become that person that the clinical team goes to. You’re helping in your own way. Patients, and their family members, are often going through the hardest time in their life. You learn interpersonal skills, that’s such a major thing in this role – it really is about relationship building. I’ve been in the NHS 10 years and in this role three years. I would say this role is by far my most fulfilling and I learn every day. What are some of your highlights? I would say two major things. One, I got the chance, along with one of the excellent clinical nurse specialist team, to present at a national NHS England conference for other MDT coordinators, which was quite uplifting. We spoke about how we improved our colorectal cancer staging. And second, I would say is our improvement collaborative project, which is still ongoing, to help our most vulnerable patients, for example we’ve co-produced easy-read documentation with local learning disability groups. What are the main challenges in your role? It’s time, I suppose, as with any anybody in the NHS. Everyone’s under pressure, everyone is stretched. But I ultimately think having a positive mindset goes a really long way. There is a lot of power in a positive attitude and I would say supporting and enabling colleagues both at a junior level and senior level drives me. How do you like to unwind outside work? I like to work out and recently I’ve been getting into walking as a time to unwind. Other than that, I like to paint miniatures. It’s quite therapeutic and can get quite intricate. Taking care of your wellbeing Every day, our staff go above and beyond to care for our patients. Please take the time to also look after your own wellbeing: • 24/7 helpline (out of hours) contact Care First on 0800 174319 (24/7) service) for emotional and psychological support or access online via carefirst-lifestyle.co.uk; login details can be found on Freenet • Contact the Samaritans (on 116 123), NHS Helpline (111) or your GP • Cost of living worries can have a huge impact on our mental health – visit our financial wellbeing page on Freenet • Visit Freenet for a range of resources, information and other wellbeing tips
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